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.ACLAY MIMOBIAL 



SKETCHING 

THE LINEAGE 
LIFE AND OBSEQUIES 

OF 

Hon. William B. Maclay, 



BY 



ORRIN B. JUDD LL.D. 



PUBLISHED FOR THE FRIENDS O^ ™^ ^^^^^"^^^^"^ 
EDITION LIMITED^ •'',■;' i 



NEW YORK: 

PRINTED BY EUGENE D. CROKEK. 
1884 



In Kxo)?. 
N.T. Pub. Lib. 



El4-\5 



f5 ©0 G) 



THE DESCENDANTS 



FJEV. fll^GHIBALD CQaGLAY, D.D., 



THIS BOOK IS 



RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 




Entered, accurding to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, 

By Okkin B. Judd, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 




PREFACE 



y? 



Biography is the fountain-head of liistory. As the waters of a thousand 
spi'ings run, in confluent streams, from mountain-heights to the ocean; so tlie 
lives of individuals, coalescing in families, communities, and nations, are merged 
in, and make up the general history of mankind. In this tributary relation, 
history is accurate and full, so far only, as, biography is impartial and com- 
plete. Hence it may be held, that, a biographer should dissect the Ufe, on 
which he writes, with an impartial hand, exposing vices to be shunned, as well 
as, illustrating virtues to be imitated. 

But this sketch of William B. Maclay is not a biography in that sense; it is 
rather a memorial of his laudable deeds and virtues, made to honor his memory, 
to comfort surviving friends, and to impress upon rising generations an example 
of life worthy of their imitation. If, therefore, this sketch should strike any 
one, as too laudatory for a biography, it may be taken as a eulogy or panegyric, 
in which animadversion is not requisite, and the highest encomium is becoming, 
so long as it does not exceed the merits of the subject. And his readers may 
rest assured, that, the author, while aiming to extol, in no stinted measure, 
whatever was praiseworthy, has been careful to avoid all exaggeration, and to 
keep within the limits of truth and justice. 

It may appear to some, that, the author, in sketching the life of William B. 
Maclay, has taken in much, that pertains only to the biographies of his father, 
and other membei-s of the family. And if it were true, as certain would-be 
scientists have told us, that men from monkeys may grow, this might be a 
sound and pertinent criticism. But the law of reproduction, which, according 
to the Bible, and the well-known constitution of Nature, requires every new 
generation, in a self -propagating .species, to be ''after its own kind,'" is unalter- 
able, and admits of no amendment. We must accept these apothegms,— once a 
monkey always a monkey; once a man never a monkey,— as infaUible axioms 
of science; according to which, no living creature can come to be a man, with- 



Preface 



out that attribute, which tlie Bible ascribes to every human being,—" horn of a 
woman.'''' Hence, in this sketch, tlie author has proceeded upon the principle, 
that, "blood will tell;" that, to get the most .thorough knowledge of a man's 
character, we must know his progenitors. He has, therefore, ventured a little 
out of the beaten track, to illustrate the character of William B. Maclay, by a 
somewhat extended account of his lineage. 

Some papere and letters, containing tributes of respect for the memorj^ of the 
deceased, and condolence with the bereaved, are published in this memorial ; 
partly, to put on record these testimonials of respect and sympathy; but more, 
also, to corroborate and complete the author's delineation of Mr. Maclay's 
character. For, as we get the exact figure of a mountain, bj' putting together 
numerous observations, taken at different standpoints, commanding views of 
all its parts severally; so, we obtain the most perfect portraiture of an eminent 
man, by a judicious combination of what various well-informed, fair-minded 
witnesses testify concerning him. 

In justice to himself, the author begs leave to explain, briefly, why the publi- 
cation of this work has been so long delayed. It was imdertaken as a by-work, 
to be done in such shreds of time, as could be spared from prior and indispen- 
sable engagements. Twelve hours out of every twenty-four were already 
devoted to regular business ; then, the time spent in going to and f roln business, 
in sleep, and in necessary attention to various other personal and family duties, 
being taken out of the other twelve hours, a small balance only was left for 
literary labor. The work involved numerous details, which, in justice to the 
subject, could not be summarily dispatched; and each fragment of time, given 
to the work, was so short, and the intervals between the stops and starts, so 
long, that, many stitches, dropped during the interruption, bad to be taken up 
at every resvmiption. Under all these circumstances, the author could only 
make haste very slowly. Otherwise this book would have had a much earlier 
issue. 

And now, without conceit or affectation, the author flatters himself, that, the 
work is fairly done; and, free from all misgivings, he commits it, with what- 
ever defects it may have, to the favorable consideration of indulgent friends, 
to whom the book is respectfully inscribed, and upon whom, it affords him 
unspeakable pleasvire, to invoke the richest blessings of Heaven. 

O. B. J. 




FJOBEI^rp I7ALDANB (Qaglay, Q}.D. 



CONTENTS 



Introductory remarks, page 7. 
LINEAGE of William B. Maclay ; comprising niinnte 
sketches of Ins father's family, pages 8-08. 
Robert, 8— Archibald, 12— William, 13— 
Moses, 14 — James, 14 — Margaret, 15 — 
Jane, 16— Marv Ann, 16— Harriet, 17— 
Their father, 18— -Their mother, 38. 
LIFE of William B. Maclay, embracing his early 
training, public career, and retirement, pages 
41-130. His education, 41— Admitted to 
the bar, 43 — His debut in the legal pro- 
fession, 44 — Election to the legislature, 45 — 
Keforms of the courts, 46 — Committee to 
investigate Erie R. R. Company, 48 — Print- 
ing MSS. of State history, 49— Public 
schools of New York, 50 — Election to Con- 
gress, 57 — Electric telegraph, 58— Title to 
Oregon, 59 — Annexation of Texas, 64 — 
Mexican war, 70 — Disposal of public lands, 
73 — Admission of Kansas, 76— Reduction 
of postage, 77 — Relief of heirs of John 
Paul Jones, 80 — Close of his career in Con- 
gress, 85 — Declines a renomination, 87-^- 
Standing with constituents and in Congress, 
88 — Conduct as Representative, 90 — Inter- 
vals of leisure, 92 — Presentation to Lieut. 
Morris, 93 — Famine in Ireland, 95 — Mass. 
Horticultural Society, 97— MaiTiage, Fam- 



Contents 



OBSEQUIES 



ily, Removal to Illinois, 99 — Bereavement, 
100 — Hair-breadtli escape, 107 — Self-sacri- 
ficing' spirit, 112 — Love of art and literature, 
113 — Travels abroad, 114 — Writings, 115 
— Traits of character, 117 — Christian spirit, 
123 — Last illness and death, 130 — Surviv- 
ing sons, 130. 

of William B. Maclay, pages, 131-144. 
Bearers of the pall, 131 — Dr. Bridgeman's 
Address, 132 -Dr. Crosby's Address", 136— 
Favorite h^nnns of the deceased, 137, 138 — 
Comments made by Mr. Maclay, in his life- 
time, on the hymn, "Rock of Ages," 139 — 
Last ceremonies in the Church, 140 — In- 
terment in Greenwood, 140 — Soul's survival, 
141 — Faith and hope in prospect of death, 
141 — To the faithless and liopeless, death 
the enigma of life, 142 — Happ}^ meeting and 
greetings in heaven, 143, 144. 
TRIBUTES of condolence with the bereaved, 145-1G5. 
From the Universitv of the City of New 
York, 145— Tammanv Hall, 147— Dr. Cros- 
by, 148— H. C. Murphv, 148— Thos. Hoyne, 
150— Jas. E. Harvey, 153 -R. M. Frice,'l54 
— A. S. Hewitt, 155 — F. Saunders, 155 — 
P. T. Swaine, 157— Dr. Roosa, 158— Prof. 
Sebastiani, 158 - Ch. O'Conor, 160 — Dr. 
Samson, 162 — Dr. Deems, 163 — Dr. Patton, 
165. 

to some copies, containing with other papers, 
genealogical records of the Maclay family, 
to the present time. 



APPENDIX 



MEMORIAL 



The record of a well-spent life is the best 
legacy of a good man. Its value, like the price 
of wisdom, is above rubies. Unlike the treasures 
of silver and gold, which i^erish with the using, 
it endures forever, immortal as the mind and the 
heart it endows. It suffers no diminution by par- 
tition ; for, though ever so many share it, yet the 
share of each is always equal to the whole. 

As Jewels are made more brilliant and attractive 
by the beauty of their settings, so the virtues of 
human nature, and the graces of divine culture, 
appear in man with greater dignity and power, 
when applied and brought out in the combinations 
of real life. It was well said, by Daniel Webster, 
that: "When sublime virtues cease to be abstrac- 
tions, when they become embodied in human char- 
acter, and exemxDlified in human conduct, we 
should be false to our own nature, if we did not 
indulge the spontaneous effusions of our gratitude 
and admiration." 



S The Lineage of 

The subject of this sketch belonged to a family 
of twelve children, nine of whom, five brothers and 
four sisters, lived to mature age. They were all 
religiously trained and liberally educated. 

Robert Haldane, named after a distinguished 
friend and benefactor of his father, was born in 
Scotland, and came to America, with his parents, 
when about two years of age. He was educated in 
the City of New York, completing his academical 
studies in the curriculum of Columbia College. 
His professional studies were pursued under Doc- 
tors Abiaham J. Hunter, Valentine Mott, Hosack, 
and Stevens ; and he graduated, as doctor of medi- 
cine, from the old College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons of the City of New York, in 1826. He soon 
acquired an extensive practice, and ever afterwards 
enjoyed the well-earned reputation of a skillful 
physician. For intrepidity and assiduous atten- 
tion to the duties of his profession, he had no 
superior, and few, if any, equals. The cholera 
hospital of the Sixth Ward was under his charge, 
during the prevalence of that terrible epidemic, in 
1832 ; and he was constantly at his post, day and 
night, ministering to the wants of the sick and the 
dying. As a token of their gratitude and admira- 
tion, the citizens gave him an elegant service of 
plate, bearing this inscription : 

Presented to Doctor Bohert H. Maday, hy a number of Ms 
fellow-citizens, of the Sixth Ward, in the City of Neiv YorJc ; 
(IS a testimonial of their apprecicdion of the Zealand ahiUty ivith 
tvhich he performed his professional services, during the preva- 
lence of cholera, in the year 1832. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 9 

Doctor Robert was proud of his country ; nnd, as 
a patriotic citizen, he took an active part in the 
politics of the day. He numbered, among his po- 
litical friends, such men as Judge Brady, Charles 
O' Conor, and Charles P. Daly. He was an ardent 
admirer of Gfeneral Jackson, and heartily partici- 
pated in the measures which led to his election as 
President of the United States. He was Chairman 
of the Committee on Resolutions, in relation to the 
death of President Jackson ; expressing the na- 
tion's sorrow at the loss of a citizen so distin- 
guished as a patriot and a statesman. He headed 
the delegation appointed to welcome President 
Polk, on the occasion of his visit to the City of JN'ew 
York ; and his address to the President, on that 
occasion, elicited the unqualified praise of all par- 
ties. He took a deep interest in the cause of civil 
and religious liberty, and of the universal freedom 
of all mankind. Throughout the civil war, which 
followed the late secession of the Southern States, 
he was an unflinching supporter of the Union. 
But, in the latter part of his life, he had but little 
to do with party politics. In comparative retire- 
ment, he enjoyed, with ease and comfort, the soci- 
ety of a large circle of relatives and friends, by 
whom he was held in the highest esteem for his 
many virtues and his varied intellectual acquire- 
ments. He was an intelligent, sincere believer in 
the doctrines of Christianity ; which, in spirit and 
principle, he exemx)lified far above and beyond the 
average professor. At the age of sixty-five years, 

2 



10 The Lineage of 

after a protracted illness, lie died, on tlie fifteenth 
of October, 1868, in the faith and hope of a better 
life in a higher sphere of conscious being, forever 
exjDanding infinitely above the horizon of this brief 
mortality. 

But this decease of the head of a once happy 
family was no sti-ange event in Dr. Robert's house- 
hold. For, although he w^as the oldest in that lit- 
tle circle, w^hich had formerly filled his home with 
domestic felicity ; and, though he himself did not 
live out the allotted period of human life, yet he 
was not the first whom the Father in Heaven called 
out of that group to walk in ' ' the way of all the 
earth." With an abundance of Heaven's bless-' 
ings, a liberal share of the bereavements of married 
life had fallen to his lot. The ruthless hand of 
death had broken the brightest link in that family 
chain, which once encircled his household com- 
plete ; and this good man went out of the world as 
if beckoned hence to Heaven by the bosom com- 
panion of his youth, who had, many years ago, led 
the way before him "through the valley of the 
shadow of death." 

The following certificate is entitled to a place in 
this memorial, as an impartial, veritable testimony 
to the real worth of one whose earthly record is 
finished : 

The Board of Trustees of the New York Savings Bank, at a meet- 
ing held "Wednesday, December 9th, 1868, adopted the following 
Preamble and Eesolutions relating to the death of Eobert H 
Maclay : 




^ 



GlilZA liABATUT CQaGLAY. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 11 

Whereas, Dr. Kobert H. Maclay, late President of this Bank, de- 
parted this life on the fifteenth of October last ; and 

Whereas, This Board, tenderly remembering the superior talents 
and noble virtues of the deceased, and being deeply sensible of 
the loss they have sustained by his death, desire to bear testi- 
mony of their high appreciation of his character, therefore 

Resolved, That, as President of this Institution, Dr. Maclay dis- 
charged the duties of his office with signal ability, and zeal for 
the interests of the Bank, and, as its presiding officer, his 
facility, his tact, and his gentlemanly courtesy won the affec- 
tion and respect of all his associates. 

Resolved, That the members of this Board would especially bear 
their tribute of affectionate praise to the memory of their de- 
parted associate as a man endowed with a cultivated mind, 
stored with various and extensive information, having large 
experience of the world, and knowledge of man ; of a graceful 
and dignified presence, and of rare conversational powers. Dr. 
Maclay was a man of more than ordinary attainments, attrac- 
tion, and influence. In addition to these accomplishments, he 
possessed elements of character still more amiable and estima- 
ble — an affectionate heart, a kind and obliging disposition, a 
nice sense of honor, a high-toned morality, and feelings and 
convictions deeply reverential and religious. 

Resolved, That this Board heartily sympathize with the family of 
the deceased in their grief for the loss of such a father, and 
rejoice that they have so effective a consolation in the character 
of their beloved and lamented parent, and in the honorable 
name which he has left in the hearts and memories of his fellow 
citizens. 

Resolved, That these Eesolutions be entered in the minutes of the 
Board, and a copy of the same be transmitted by the Secretary 
to the family of the deceased. 

(Signed) EICHARD H. BULL, President. 

C. W. Brinckerhoff, Secretary. 



12 The Lineage of 

ArcMbald jiiiiior, named after his father and his 
paternal grandfather, was born and brought up in 
the City of New York. He, too, was liberally edu- 
cated, and took a diploma, as doctor of medicine, 
from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the 
City of New York. Uniting with high attainments 
in the science of his profession many qualities of a 
kind heart, and the amenities of reiinement in mind 
and manners, which were calculated to make him 
agreeable in social life, he Avas universally liked, 
and became a practitioner of no ordinary grade. 
As a citizen he took a deep interest in whatever 
concerned the welfare of his country, j)articularly 
in the affairs of his native city. He was succes- 
sively elected Assistant Alderman, from the Eighth 
Ward, at the time when a seat in the Common 
Council of the city was deemed an honor, and the 
public weal was held paramount to i)rivate interests. 
And when, on one occasion, he was nominated for 
re-election, by such prominent, substantial citizens 
as the late Alfred Barmore, Anthony Compton, 
Abraham Blauvelt, and Daniel Marshall, the nomi- 
nating committee said : " Dr. Maclay's course has 
been characterized by honesty, consistency, and 
ability. He has proved himself a capable and 
efRcient officer, and needs no commendation from 
us to obtain your suffrages ; though we deem it 
X3roper to state that, in consequence of his worth 
and valuable services, he received our unanimous 
nomination." But finding the duties of an Alder- 
man, even though performed as a by-work, incom- 




f^I^GHIBALD CQAGLiAY, ^^.. CQ.D. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 13 

patible with the duties of his profession, as well as 
incongenial to his taste, Dr. Archibald devoted 
his attention more exclusively to the healing art, 
which he has continued to practice with credit to 
himself and the profession, and with incalculable 
benefits to the numerous patients whose lives have 
been saved, or whose sufferings have been allevi- 
ated, through his prudence and skill. But that 
which sheds superior luster over all his other 
virtues and achievements is the assiduous atten- 
tion, the sincere devotion, which Dr. Archibald 
now bestows on his beloved wife ; who, after 
three score years of perfect, uninterrupted health, 
has become invalid. 

William BrOwn, a twin brother of Dr. Archibald, 
named after his maternal grandfather, was also lib- 
erally educated. He graduated from the Univer- 
sity of the City of New York, and after a due 
course of j)rofpssional study he was admitted to 
the bar as a lawyer. But soon after setting out in 
the practice of that profession, with the assured 
prospect of a brilliant career, yielding to the influ- 
ence of political admirers and following the ardent 
aspirations of youthful patriotism, he left the 
sphere of a lawyer, in the office and the court room, 
for the wider province of a statesman in the halls 
of legislation ; where, as it will hereafter appear, 
his merits far exceeded his fame, and his works 
were such as, if they had been done by one ambi- 
tious of renown, might have adorned a more illus- 
trious name. 



14: The Lineage of 

Moses Brown, named after his maternal uncle, 
was also educated for the legal profession. He 
graduated from the same University with his 
brother, William B., and studied law under the 
Hon. Joseph S. Bosworth, an eminent barrister and 
one of the distinguished Judges of the Superior 
'Court of the City and County of New York. Moses 
B. was admitted to the bar at an early age ; and, by 
a rare combination of ability, industry, and fidel- 
ity, he soon established a substantial, flourishing 
business in all branches of the profession, but 
especially in the line of real estate, the collection of 
debts, the testamentary disposition of property, 
the settlement of estates, and the execution of 
trusts ; for which he has always enjoyed the high- 
est reputation and the unqualified confidence of his 
numerous clients, and of which no lawyer in the 
City of New York has proved himself more wor- 
thy. In his attention to, and dispatch of, business 
committed to his hands, Mr. Maclay is exception- 
ally prompt and punctual, and though he cannot 
always save his clients from that crucifier of human 
patience, the "law's delay," he sees to it, that such 
delay is never chargeable to his fault, and that his 
clients suffer n<j avoidable detriment thereby. 

James Grraham, named after a clergyman friend 
of his father, was also educated for the legal pro- 
fession, and studied law in the office of the Hon. 
David Dudley Field. But for many years i3ast he 
has given his attention to real estate business in the 
City of Chicago, Hlinois. 



A^ 




CQosES Bf^own CQaglay. 




elAMES Gl^AHAM (DAGLiAY. 




fflAI=>GAI^E1i CQaGLAY BOGAP^DUS. 




JJAMES BOGAl^UUii. 



Hon. William B. Mcwlay 15 

Margaret was a woman of good mental culture 
and great energy of character. She was born in 
Scotland, and brought to this country, by her par- 
ents, when an infant. She was educated in Phila- 
delphia, at the school of Lady Oldmixon, and be- 
came an accomplished artist. She was renowned, 
at home and abroad, for her skill in the well-nigh 
lost art of miniature painting on ivory, before the 
pencil gave place to the solar ray in picture por- 
traits. She enjoyed the distinguished honor of be- 
ing an Associate Academician, and a member of 
the American National Academy of Design, and a 
recognized contributor to the Works of Art in the 
Royal Academy of England. She married James 
Bogardus, the celebrated inventor, to wjiom the 
world is indebted for more than a hundred ma- 
chines, some of which are of great utility, such as 
the universal eccentric mill, the dry gas meter, the 
water meter, the self- registering meter for deejD sea 
soundings, the eight-day three-wheel chronometer 
clock, the ring spinner, and various imi)lements for 
the manufacture and construction of iron buildings. 
The invention of these buildings is unquestionably 
one of the greatest improvements in modern archi- 
tecture, which is of itself enough to immortalize the 
name of Bogardus. The first application of this 
invention was the erection of an iron front to a 
building on Broadway, New York. The first com- 
plete structure of iron was the Sun Building, in 
Baltimore ; and the largest iron building in the 
world was put up by Mr. Bogardus in Havana, 
Cuba. 



16 Tlie Lineage of 

It should be observed here that Mrs. Bogardus, 
by her skill and untiring industry in works of art, 
provided the means of livelihood for herself and 
her husband, and also much of the material aid 
which was indispensable to his success, while per- 
fecting his inventions, and securing patent-rights 
not yet remunerative ; and so helped lay tlie foun- 
dation of that handsome fortune, which they to- 
gether ultimately acquired, the credit of which is 
sometimes ascribed, without qaalification, to his 
genius alone. Margaret survived her husband, and 
spent the evening of her life in ease and comfort. 

Jane, the only surviving sister, is a woman of fine 
mental culture, with large experience, a rich store 
of practical common sense, and a sound judgment. 
She married Adam P. Pentz, who was formerly well- 
known, prominent, and influential among the leading 
business men of his generation in New York. He 
was for many years a prominent member, and suc- 
cessively treasurer and president of the old " Fire 
Department of the City of New York." He is one 
of the few remaining representatives of the ancient 
Knickerbocker stock. Having retired from active 
business, relieved of its cares, and removed from 
any want of its resources, he is now happily enjoy- 
ing with his beloved wife the harvest-home of a 
good old age. 

Mary Ann was a woman of refinement and educa- 
tion. She married William Wright, a prominent 
merchant in the dry goods firm of Wiiglit, Large & 
Lottimer, iu the City of New York. Mr. Wright 




(3ANE feHOMAS fflAGLAY I?ENTZ. 




f^DAM IpEI^I^Y IPENTZ. 




CQftl^Y BNN fflAGLAY OJl^IGHT. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 17 

retired from active business at an early nge with a 
fortune, wliicli tliough not counted by the million, 
was nevertheless ample for himself and those de- 
pendent on him. Mrs. ^Vright also survived her 
husband, and lived to a good old age in the enjoy- 
ment of all the comforts that are to be derived from 
earthly possessions, and the prospects of a better 
life, and an inheritance that fadeth not away, in 
heaven. 

Mrs. Wright was uncommonly kind-hearted and 
generous without being noted for generosity, simply 
because of the quiet unostentatious manner in 
which her benefactions were bestow^ed, I have 
known many persons, who, being ambitious of dis- 
play, and fond of notoriety, were far more celebrat- 
ed for their charities with less actual benevolence. 

It was in Mr. Wright's family, at their home in 
New York, that Father Maclay languished and 
died, surrounded by all the comforts that kindness 
could suggest, or wealth command ; and bis last 
sickness furnished many beautiful exhibitions of 
filial devotion. It seemed as though the unnum- 
bered kindnesses, which he had in early life be- 
stowed upon his dear mother, were now^ returned to 
him a hundred fold through his equally affection- 
ate children. 

Harriet, also, w^as educated and accomplished, 
and was noted for her ]3ersonal beauty. She mar- 
ried John Anderson Hogg, a young man of distin- 
guished talents, a protege of Charles O' Conor. He 
was a lawyer by profession and rose to eminence. 



18 The Lineage of 

notwithstanding liis nntimely death when only 
twenty-five years of age. His widow afterwards 
married James E. Richardson, a prominent mer- 
chant of Philadelphia, whom, also, slie surviv'ed. 
As a good woman, wife, and mother, Harriet was 
held in high estimation, and was, like each one of 
her sisters, an ornament t.) the family. 

These solid men and women, worthily classed 
with the most substantial representatives of a gen- 
eration now fast passing away, came of noble par- 
entage. 

The father of these children, Rev. Archibald 
Maclay, D.D., was not distinguished as a noble- 
man, according to the artificial classification of a 
hereditary aristocracy ; but the develojDments of his 
life show, that, he had elements of character which 
were of no degenerate extraction. We have no 
record nor authentic tradition of his ancestry back 
of the second preceding generation. It is related, 
on good authority, that his paternal grandfather 
was a man of high repute, and an elder in the Pres- 
byterian Church. He lived to a great age, and, 
when he was on his death-bed, his grandchildren 
were brought to see him for the last time. As they 
approached his bedside, he looked on them with a 
complacent smile, and said : 

" One generation goetli and another cometh. 
Blessed be the name of the Lord." 

And having uttered these, his last words, he ex- 
pired. It is related, also, of Dr. Maclay' s paternal 




Hai^i^iet CDaglay F^ogg-I^ighai^dson. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 19 

grandmother, who is said to have been a woman of 
marked character, that, by her address, and her 
knowledge of the Gaelic langiiage, she once saved 
her native village from being plundered and burnt 
at a time when Scotland was known to be, as it was 
reputed to have been for fifty preceding genera- 
tions, ' ' of all the European nations, the most neces- 
sitous, the most turbulent, and the most unsettled." 
Dr. Maclay' s father, after whom he was named, was 
born in 1749, and died at the age of thirty-six years, 
when his son, Archibald, was only nine years old. 
He was a plain farmer, but a man of known, prob- 
ity, and more than ordinary intelligence. At the 
time of his death, and for many years previous, he 
was collector of the parish revenues, and an elder 
in the Presbyterian Church. The mother of Dr. 
Maclay, whose maiden name was Jean Thomas, was 
born in 1742, and died in 1804, having lived nine- 
teen years after the death of her husband. She was 
a woman of uncommon energy of character, and an 
exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church. In 
this family there had been six children, three boys, 
and three girls. The oldest and the youngest died 
before their father ; so that, their mother, when be- 
reaved of her husband, had only four children left, 
two sons and two daughters. Archibald being the 
third son, and the fourth child of the family entire, 
was the younger of the surviving sons, and was 
then, as already stated, only nine years old. Yet, 
in the providence of God, circumstances made him 
from that time dependent upon his own exertions 



20 The Lineage of 

for support, and nltimately led to his becoming the 
main stay of the family. This exigency, occurring 
in his very childhood, tested thus early both the 
fidelity of his heart and the ability of his intellect, 
and proved him to be at once cognizant of th^ high- 
est principles of moral obligation, and true to his 
own sense of right, and, when beset with obstacles 
in the path of duty, equal to any emergency. In 
filial devotion he never failed nor faltered. He 
stood by his mother through thick and thin, to the 
last, and did all he could to make the evening of 
her life cheerful as the morning. And, though he 
had long before made up his mind to emigrate, it 
was not till he had bestowed upon his mother the 
last cares of a dutiful son, and laid her mortal re- 
mains to rest with the deceased of her kindred, in 
the silent city of the dead, that he bid adieu to his 
native land, and set out to make his individual 
career in this new world, the country of his adop- 
tion. 

At Green End, in the outskirts of the village of 
Killearn, Stirlingshire, Scotland, was a rural cot- 
tasie attached to a farm of one hundred and fif tv 
acres, which had been in the Maclay family for 
many generations, and was knoAvn as the "Maclay 
Homestead." It was situated in that romantic val- 
ley of the Highlands, which separates the mount- 
ain ridges on either side of Loch Lomond and its 
hundred islands. Though not far distant from the 
marts of commerce, and within five hundred miles 
of London, this region was then a terra incognita^ 



Hon. William B. Maclay 21 

even to its lowland neighbors, and bnt indifferently 
appreciated by its own native born inhabitants. 
That beautiful combination of majestic mountains 
with their sinuous dashing streams, and the lowly 
valley with its deep flowing river, and island dotted 
lake, animated with lil'e-freighted boats, and ves- 
sels of every description, all mirrored in a resi)len- 
dent sky, forming one of the loveliest landscapes 
of that ]3icturesque country, over which tourists 
from every clime are now rapt in ecstasies of de- 
light—that magnificent temple of nature where the 
votaries of romance now love to worship — was then, 
to the comparatively unsusceptible inhabitants of 
that time and place, but little more than a huge 
pile of mountains, with interspersed oases here and 
there, almost inaccessible, being reached only by 
difficult, dismal, and dangerous passes, which ex- 
cited no higher emotions than fear and disgust. 
This was the birth-place of the Rev. Dr. Maclay. 
Beneath the roof of that humble cottage, on the 
"Maclay Homestead," in the Highlands of Scot- 
land, he was born on the fourteenth of May, 1776, 
and came upon the stage of life in the dawn of that 
day whose meridian is the glory of our age. 

From a child Dr. Maclay was thoroughly instruct- 
ed at home in the religion of the Bible. Under the 
guidance of a pious mother he read that Book of 
books, over and over, from (genesis to Revelation. 
Many of his mother's expositions of Scripture 
were so indelibly stamped upon his mind, that, 
after the lapse of more than seventy years, he used 



22 The Lineage of 

to relate them with great particularity ; pointing- 
out their peculiar pertinence and force. He was, 
also, taught to say his prayers in secret, morning 
and evening, and to perform various other cere- 
monies of religion. But he soon came to look upon 
these observances as only the outward forms of 
godliness, which were often without the power ; 
and, in his own case, the religion of a young phari- 
see. The confidence which he gained by trusting 
in his own righteousness gave place to the condem- 
nation of a guilty conscience, and the apprehensions 
of a righteous retribution. From this trouble of 
mind he found no relief till he met with a change, 
which he always regarded as the new birth, without 
which, the Savior said, it is impossible for man to 
see the Kingdom of God. This change he experi- 
enced while listening to a sermon by Rev. Mr. 
Wallis, on Eph. 1: 7, and which he describes as fol- 
lows : 

"It pleased the Lord to open my dark mind to understand the 
divine method of saving sinners through faith in a crucified Savior ; 
to see how he could he just afld yet justify him that believeth in 
Jesus. It seemed as though a flood of light had burst into my dark 
heart. I saw God reconciled, and the threatenings of the law 
silenced. I saw that God had made him, who knew no sin, to be sin 
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 
Then imspeakable peace took possession of my troubled soul. In 
the first transport of my love and gratitude, I could have embraced 
in my arms the preacher through whom the gospel was made known 
to me as the wisdom and the power of God unto salvation. But I 
was a difiident, friendless boy, and did not dare, even to speak to 
him. I had never seen him before ; and I have never seen him since. 
But it has been my pri\'ilege, in my old age, to meet with his son, 
Eev. Dr. "Wallis, Professor of Theology in King's College, Toronto ; 



Hon. William B. Maclay 23 

and to acknowledge to him the debt of gi-atitude I owed to his 
father." 

When the boy experienced this change, his moth- 
er was satisfied that he had passed from death unto 
life, and made him leader of family worsliip. He 
united with a church of the Seceders, to which his 
mother belonged. It was located at the Craig, in 
the parish of Kilpatrick, twelve miles from Kil- 
learn. He and his mother used to attend this 
church every Sunday, walking part of the way Sat- 
urday evening, and the rest Sunday morning ; then 
walking home together after church, Sunday even- 
ing. That long mountain road seemed much short- 
ened, he said, by conversations on divine things, 
which he had with his mother by the way. At this 
time Archibald began to take an active part in pub- 
lic meetings for conference and prayer. 

The aifairs of the farm at Killearn, which were 
managed after his father's death by the older son, 
John, became unfortunately involved ; insomuch, 
that the family were obliged to leave the '' home- 
stead." John, disheartened and mortified, went 
abroad, and Archibald, at the age of twelve years, 
undertook to provide for his mother and sisters, 
and, by God's blessing, he succeeded ; so that they 
never after that lacked the necessaries, nor even the 
comforts of life. He redeemed the "homestead," 
paying the last farthing of the stipulated price ; 
and, when fourteen years of age, he had the pleas- 
ure of seeing his mother living again in her own 
house. 



24 The Lineage of 

Up to this time Archibald's opportunities for 
education had been very limited. For about three 
months he attended the parish school, and when 
obliged to work with his hands during the day he 
went awhile to an evening school. But as he be- 
came accustomed to speak in conference meetings, 
and in the Sunday-school, he began to feel that it 
was his duty to preach ; and when he found that 
the judgment of his friends and the desire of the 
people were in accord with his own convictions on 
that subject, he concluded it was the will of God, 
and thereupon made up his mind to consecrate 
himself to the gospel ministry. With a view to 
this work, as soon as circumstances 2)ermitted, 
he entered upon a systematic course of study. 
The family removed from Kil learn to Glasgow. 
Archibald was two years under the tuition of Rev. 
Greville Ewing of Glasgow, and one year under Br. 
Innes of Dundee. He finished his education at the 
University of Edinburgh when the celebrated 
Dugald Stewart was one of the professors. He was 
chiefly indebted for the means of his education to 
Robert Haldane, after whom he named his first- 
born son. 

Dr. Maclay had already made up his mind to 
emigrate. It was, at first, in his heart to go as a 
missionary to the East Indies ; and he was once 
appointed to that field, but owing to political dis- 
turbances there the fulfillment of this engagement 
was postponed, and he decided to settle tempora- 
rily at home. He received no less than seven calls 



Hon. William B. Maclay 25 

from as many different places. With his charac- 
teristic spirit of self-sacrifice, he accepted the one 
where he thought his services were most needed, 
though least likely to be liberally compensated — 
that from Kircaldy, Fifeshire, opposite Edinburgh. 
Here he was ordained in 1802, with the customary 
ceremonies, Rev. Messrs. Wardlaw, Grant, Hal- 
dane, and Collison, with the candidate, taking part 
in the services. The same year he was married by 
Rev. JSIr. Ewing to Miss Mary Brown, of Glasgow. 
His ministry in Kircaldy was attended with the 
most gi-atifying results, and he was held in the 
highest estimation by the people. But his mother 
died iQ 1804 ; his missionary spirit was unabated, 
and, seeing no immediate prospect of an oj)en door 
for missionaries in the East, he turned his attention 
to the West, and, with the advice of Mr. Haldane, 
he made up his mind to emigrate to America. He 
accordingly resigned his pastoral charge, took an 
affectionate farewell of his friends in the land of his 
nativity, and sailed from Greenock with his wife 
and two children, Robert and Margaret, on the 
twenty- eighth of October, 1805, landing safely in 
New York, after a tempestuous and perilous voy- 
age. His first sermon in America was preached in 
New York harbor, on board the ship which had 
been their Bethel in crossing the ocean. Dr. Mac- 
lay's standing, as an accredited minister of the 
gospel, his confidential relations to well-known 
representative characters of Great Britain, and his 
letters of commendation from such men as Dick, 

3 



26 The Lineage of 

Haldane, Fuller, and Hall, gave him a favorable 
introduction to men of standing and influence in 
America. He was kindly received in the commu- 
nity and in the churches of New York, and was 
soon installed in a pastorate of his own. In this 
relation he continued to preach, without any con- 
siderable intermission, for thirty-two years, being 
from 1809 to 1837 pastor of one and the same 
church, in Mulberry street, which was afterwards 
called the Tabernacle Baptist Church, now located 
on Second avenue. 

The fruits of Dr. Maclay's labors during this pe- 
riod cannot be comprehended by any measure of 
time, nor fully known to any human mind in this 
world. It is known, however, that he had a sound 
mind in a sound body, and a heart ever glowing 
with fervid zeal for the glory of God and with 
good will to men. He was well qualified for the 
gospel ministry and was never idle. In a letter to 
Dr. Cone, explaining how he came to be so thor- 
oughly convinced that the translation of our com- 
mon English version of the Bible ought to be re- 
vised. Dr. Maclay says : "I have in the course of 
my ministry expounded the whole of the New Test- 
ament and considerable portions of the Old Testa- 
ment, examining carefully every chapter and every 
verse." He used to preach five times every week, 
gave personal attention to the Sunday-school and 
Bible class, spent no little time in visiting the poor 
and the sick, and was actively engaged in various 
religious, benevolent, and educational enterprises. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 27 

He compiled and publislied a Collection of Hymns 
of eight hundred pages, supplemental to the Psalms 
and Hymns of Dr. Watts. He united upwards of 
ten thousand persons in the bonds of matrimony. 
In ways which no man can name, or number, he 
labored constantly to improve the condition of men 
on earth and to prepare them for a holier state and 
a happier home on high. A life replete with such 
labors of love has a record which nothing but the 
united ages of time and eternity can ever unfold — a 
record more precious and honorable than all the 
gold of Ophir. 

Dr. Maclay retired from the pastorate at the age 
of sixty-one years, not because he was worn out or 
was tired of being a pastor, but because a door was 
opened before him into a larger field of labor, more 
consonant with the vision of his youth and the as- 
pirations of his manhood — the spread of the gospel 
in heathen lands. When the American and For- 
eign Bible Society was organized the exigencies 
of the case called for a man of more than ordinary 
qualifications to advocate its claims. Dr. Maclay' s 
age, established character, and extensive acquaint- 
ance, together with his knowledge of the subject, 
and his apostolic zeal, all pointed to him as the 
man pre-eminently adapted to this work. He was 
therefore chosen to be the general agent for that 
Society ; and he accordingly offered his resignation 
as pastor of the church in September, 1837. The 
church accepted his resignation, and thereupon 
passed the following resolution : 



"28 The Lineage of 

' ' Although it is iDainf ul to part with our pastor, 
especially when we consider that he was the means, 
under God, of planting this church, and has been 
so long its faithful, affectionate, and devoted pas- 
tor, yet, believing that Providence has opened a 
wide field of usefulness for him in the Bible cause, 
and eminently qualified him to labor in it, we de- 
sire to acquiesce in this dispensation of Providence, 
and at the same time express our undiminished and 
affectionate attachment to him." 

Dr. Maclay devoted the balance of his life to the 
Bible cause, under the auspices of the American 
and Foreign Bible Society and the American Bible 
Union, having this object, as he expressed it, " To 
give the Bible translated to all nations, without any 
human addition, diminution, or concealment." In 
this work he traveled extensively in the United 
States, Great Britain, and in some of the British 
Provinces. He was everywhere well received ; at 
home and abroad his name was x)otent as his face 
was familiar. His sermon on the Bible cause was 
preached with great power ; it was published by the 
hundred thousand; it was translated into the Welsh 
language ; and to this day its influence is felt among 
the English and Welsh speaking jDCople through- 
out the United Kingdom, as well as in the United 
States. 

The views of Dr. Maclay in the matter of Bible 
translation in the English language were far from 
being universally accepted, even by his own de- 
nomination. But he was wonderfully successful in 



Hon. William B. Maday 29 

overcoming opposition and winning co-operation. 
His uniform urbanity, ardent, unaffected piety, and 
disinterested zeal, all tempered by a discreet exer- 
cise of charity ; together with his plain exhibition 
of facts and principles, and his undoubted honesty 
in all that he said and aimed to accomplish, gave 
him a power with the people that was almost irre- 
sistible ; so that, his very presence came to be 
looked upon as a presage of his success. In fact, 
the secret of his great success lay very much in the 
conviction of the people that he was a good man, 
and was honestly endeavoring to do good. 

In the course of his extensive travels Dr. Maclay 
endured frequent hardships, and encountered many 
perils, from some of which he narrowly escaped 
with his life. Being a firm believer in the doctrine 
of special providences, extending to the minutest 
events in the affairs of men, he always attributed 
his escape from imminent danger, and his exemp- 
tion from near disaster, to the merciful interposition 
of Almighty God. In this belief, which seemed to 
pervade and strengthen all his Christian graces, Dr. 
Maclay used to relate with great pathos many in- 
teresting incidents of this kind in his own experi- 
ence. Once when returning from a tour abroad, he 
crossed the ocean in a steamship, which, on her re- 
turn trip, was lost with all on board, and never 
more heard of. Now, a skeptic would hardly see 
any ground in this, for a belief in the special provi- 
dence of God ; but to Dr. Maclay the loss of the ill- 
fated "President," in which he had so recently 



30 The Lineage of 

crossed the ocean, was ever afterwards a perpetual 
reminder of the power and goodness of that Grod, 
who had brought him safely througli the same 
perils, in which others so soon and suddenly per- 
ished. Again in 1845, at the advanced age of near- 
ly three score and ten, Dr. Maclay came near losing 
his life by the wreck of the steamboat in which he 
was traveling on the Mississippi river. In a letter 
written at the time, he himself gave a graphic de- 
scrii)tion of that event. As the story is short, and 
all its details interesting, I will give the account 
in his own language : 

"The steamer Bellezane, of Zanesville, Ohio, 
bound for New Orleans, on which I had taken pas- 
sage, was 'snagged' on the Mississippi five miles 
below tlie mouth of the White river, fifteen miles 
above the mouth of the Arkansas. It was about one 
o'clock at night, and nearly all the passengers were 
asleep when the boat struck the 'snag.' It went 
completely through her bottom. She careened first 
on one side, then on the other. The boilers rolled 
off. This righted her a little, then she went com- 
pletely over on her side and filled with water. I 
was asleep when she struck, but was roused by the 
shock, and the rolling of empty barrels from the 
hurricane deck into the river. I instantly sprung 
from my berth ; the vessel gave a heavy lurch ; the 
water rushed in up to my chest. I struggled across 
the cabin, and, aided by the handle of the door be- 
tween the ladies' cabin and ours, I reached the state- 
room on the opposite side of the boat ; and as both 



Hon. William B. Maclay 31 

doors were providentially open I passed through 
them to the outside. The boat was then on her 
beam-ends. The scene was truly awful. The night 
was intensely cold, and those who had escaped im- 
mediate death were clustered together on the wreck, 
destitute of clothing, bareheaded and barefooted. 
The hurricane- deck separated from the cabin, and 
the captain, with four others, floated ashore on it. 
Three of these were frozen to death. The hull of 
the boat became detached from the cabin, and 
turned bottom up. Fifteen passengers climbed 
upon the hull, and were saved. Some clung to the 
side of the cabin, and were taken off by a small 
boat. I floated with the others, on a portion of the 
wreck, about ten miles down the river, near Na- 
poleon, at the mouth of the Arkansas. From some 
of the berths, which constituted the portion of the 
wreck we were on, a few quilts were obtained. I 
gave a mattress, which I had procured, to Mr. 
Chaj)man, who had the child of Captain Hins in his 
arms. I put the mattress over him and the child. 
With some difliculty I obtained another, but a 
planter from Kentucky, whose name I think was 
Burns, suffered extremely from the cold, and being 
in danger of freezing to death, I gave up to him the 
second mattress. I remained afterwards four hours 
on the wreck. Some of the boat's crew, who had 
reached the shore, obtained a small boat, and came 
to our relief. The ladies were, very properly, first 
taken from the wreck. I was brought to the shore 
with Mr. Burns, the planter, who had suffered so 



32 The Lineage of 

much from the cold. Almost the instant we reached 
tlie shore he gave one groan, and expired. Colonel 
Rives, a relative of Mr. Rives, of Washington, was 
on board the steamer, and was the first man that 
reached the shore. He was exceedingly kind and 
attentive to me and to the rest of the passengers. 
He traveled along the shore, through the woods, a 
number of miles, and obtained a small boat, and 
came to the wreck as the last i^assengers were taken 
off. AVe walked about a mile to the house of Mr. 
Cook, by whom w^e were received, and treated with 
the utmost kindness. Judge Sutton and other citi- 
zens came from Napoleon, and tendered us every 
assistance that our wants required. The caj)tain 
says there were one hundred and twenty-five pas- 
sengers, of whom sixty- five perished. Four of the 
number were frozen to death. I attribute my 
powers of endurance (which were sufficiently put to 
the test on this terrible night) to my constitution 
and temperate habits. I have lost my watch, 
money, clothing, etc., but my life has been gra- 
ciously spared. During the four hours I was on 
the wreck I spent most of the time in mental 
prayer. I felt resigned and composed. And I 
would with gratitude raise another Ebenezer, and 
say : 'Hitherto the Lord hath helped me.' What 
shall I render unto God for all His mercies towards 
me !'' 

It was, indeed, a narrow escape ; and at his age, a 
constitution must be uncommonly firm, to undergo 
such a shock, so much strain, and not be broken. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 33 

But Dr. Maclay did not snccumb. He was neither 
disabled nor disheartened by this terrible ordeal. 
After a brief interval he resumed his work, and 
added to his already protracted service nearly ten 
years more of arduous labor, beyond the allotted 
period of human life. And the zeal which animated 
him in the beginning glowed with unabated ardor 
to the end. The fruits of his labors did not fall off 
with the lapse of years. The experiences of time 
and the wisdom of age more than made up for the 
inevitable failure of physical energy ; so that, the 
acme of his usefulness was not so much in the 
midst of his years, as at the close of his earthly 
career. 

Upon the death of Rev. Spencer H. Cone, D.D., 
Dr. Maclay was chosen to fill his place as President 
of the American Bible Union, under the auspices of 
which he had done so much for the Bible cause, 
and from the operations of which he had looked for 
such glorious results. But finding the affairs of 
that society in a very unsatisfactory condition, 
which he had neither the conscience to approve nor 
the power to amend, he resigned. And being then 
about eighty years old, he yielded to the vanishes of 
his family, and spent the remnant of his days with 
them, in the City of New York. Here, surrounded 
by his children and his children's children, he was 
happily encircled in that halo of filial love, which 
illumes the evening of life with the softest beams 
of a setting sun, and brightens the bow of promise, 
on the darkest cloud that shades the river of death. 



34 The Lineage of 

On the second of May, 1860, at the age of eighty- 
four years, wanting twelve days, that good man, 
Rev. Archibald Maclay, D.D., departed this life, in 
the triumphant faith of a resurrection from the 
dead, and a glorious immortality beyond the grave. 
A monument of granite now marks the spot where 
his mortal remains were buried, beside those of his 
wife in the abodes of Greenwood. 

To this glimpse of a great man and a long life, I 
will add only a few brief observations, made by 
one, who was well acquainted with Dr. Maclay, 
and who would not knowingly distort, for better or 
for worse, a single feature in the whole contour of 
his life and character. 

" Of Dr. Maclay' s character as a man little need 
be said. No blot has ever been cast upon his name. 
Over the ordinary intercourse of society, and in the 
family circle, he diffused the charm which is always 
felt from the presence of simplicity, cheerfulness, 
and virtue. He loved the society of children ; and 
one, who was no stranger to him, observed that, 
their happiness always seemed to be his pleasure. 
He had a caress for one, a story for another, a smile 
for all. 

"Dependent upon his own exertions from the 
time he was nine years of age, he uniformly evinced 
a sympathy for, and an intelligent appreciation of 
the struggles of the poor. 

" The father of a numerous family, he never 
showed in regard to them any apprehension of the 
future, owing in part, no doubt, to the early lessons 



Hon. William B. Maclay 35 

of self-reliance which, he himself had been so 
taught, but chiefly to a constant recognition of the 
Providence of God. 

" Such was his habitual control and government 
of a temper, naturally irritable and ardent, that, 
what was merely the result of a successful struggle 
with a natural inflrmity, was often mistaken for 
native sweetness of disposition. 

" An attempt to describe his conversation would 
encounter the hazard of conveying an imperfect and 
perhaps erroneous impression to the mind. It was 
marked by singular ease and fluency ; it abounded 
in racy and apposite anecdotes, springing appropri- 
ately out of the occasion ; and yet, the effect pro- 
duced by them was so blended with, and dependent 
upon, his manner, that the citation of any example, 
would as inadequately illustrate the truth of my 
remark, as the description of a picture, which the 
reader never saw, or of a melody, which he never 
heard. 

"In all the circles, in which he has moved, no 
one perhaps ever heard him speak in other than 
warm terms of commendation of all his ministering 
brethren, whatever differences might exist among 
them, in respect to reputation or influence. 

"His love of the cause, in which he was en- 
gaged, made him less disposed to criticize, than 
to hail with pleasure, the humblest auxiliary of 
it. These characteristics gave to his whole de- 
portment, in social intercourse, the air of a man, 
who simply wished to enjoy himself, and to con- 



36 ■ TTie Lineage of 

tribute his share to the instruction and happiness 
of others. 

" In the course of his lengthened life and exten- 
sive journeyings, he formed the acquaintance of 
many remarkable persons, whose names are familiar 
to us from their connection with the literature and 
prominent events of their time. His conversation, 
rich in interesting and instructive recollections of 
such men as Dugald Stewart, Andrew Fuller, Sam- 
uel Pearce, Rowland Hill, and others, often trans- 
ported me, as it were, to another age. I seemed to 
see and hear them for myself, and forgot that a 
generation had passed away since all that could 
perish of these men was committed to the dust." 

Dr. Maclay was strictly conscientious in matters 
of truth and duty, particularly in relation to the 
doctrines of divine revelation, and the special obli- 
gations imposed upon men by the positive com- 
mands of God. This accounts for the remarkable 
changes which took place in his ecclesiastical rela- 
tions. He first joined the Seceders, because he 
thought the union of Church and State was not in 
accord with the apostolic pattern. He afterwards 
united with the Congregationalists, because he 
thought their ecclesiastical polity was more like 
the constitution and government of the apostolic 
Church. Then he left the Congregationalists and 
went over to the Baptists, because he thought they 
practiced baptism as commanded by Christ. He 
left the American Bible Society, because it refused 
to aid the circulation of Dr. Judson's translation 



Hon. William B. Maclay 3Y 

of the Burmese Bible. He left the American and 
Foreign Bible Society, to work with the American 
Bible Union, because the former refused to under- 
take or countenance the revision of our common 
English version of the Bible. And he resigned the 
Presidency of the latter, because he could neither 
approve nor remedy the radical evils of its manage- 
ment. 

When it is considered that all these changes took 
place in the faith and practice of a man, who was 
never predisposed to fickleness ; a man, in whose 
settled beliefs and general course of life there was 
almost "no variableness nor shadow of turning," 
and in whose composition there was not a particle 
of bigotry ; no candid reader can fail to see, in these 
changes, a beautiful illustration of that fealty to 
Jesus Christ and a "good conscience," that su- 
preme deference to divine authority, which marks 
the conduct of those, who honestly and earnestly 
endeavor to do the will of God. 

In the case of Dr. Maclay, the significancy of these 
changes was emphasized by the fact, that, they were 
made at a great sacrifice. I note one in particulai*, 
by which he suffered great inconvenience and detri- 
ment. When he left the Congregationalists and 
joined the Baptists, he relinquished a good salary, 
without the guarantee of a dollar in place of it, to 
support his increasing, dependent family. But in 
this exigency, was a beautiful testimonial to the 
high and honorable motives, which led to that 
change. Dr. Maclay' s old and tried friend, Robert 



38 The Lineage of 

Haldane, Esq., of Scotland, though himself a Con- 
gregationalist, yet, appreciating his friend's sincer- 
ity, sent him a draft of five hundred dollars ; show- 
ing that, however much he may have regretted the 
change, his confidence in Dr. Maclay's goodness 
was unshaken, and his affection for a Christian 
brother, was mightier and more lasting than any 
sectarian ties. 

In the artificial classifications of a hereditary ar- 
istocracy Dr. Maclay was not ranked as a noble- 
man ; but the work of his long and busy life, de- 
veloped in him an inborn nobleness of nature, 
which the mere titles of caste have no ]3ower to 
create — a God-given nobility, which he transmitted, 
as an honorable and inalienable inheritance to his 
children ; thus stigmatizing a popular slander, and 
confirming the testimony of a well-informed biog- 
rapher, who says: "The clergy of this country 
have given to society, in proportion to their num- 
bers, more sons and daughters highly educated for 
success in life, than any other class of men." 

Their mother, Mary Brown Maclay, was the 
daughter of William Brown, a highly respectable 
merchant of Glasgow, Scotland. She was born on 
the twentieth of June, 1782, and was brought up 
according to the best approved methods of a prac- 
tical education. She made a public profession of 
religion in early life and became a useful member 
of the church, being distinguished by the activities 
of an earnest Christian worker and the kindly 
spirit of a real peace-maker. She was married to 




(Qaf^y Bf^own GDaglay. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 39 

Rev. Archibald Maclay, D.D., on the fifth of Octo- 
ber, 1802, and lived with him in holy wedlock forty- 
six years, discharging the duties of a faithful wife 
and a devoted mother ; and at the same time ear- 
nestly endeavoring to promote the temporal and 
spiritual well-being of all who came within the 
sphere of her efforts and influence, as a member of 
the church and the pastor's wife. She never ceased 
to work as long as she lived ; her faith in God 
never faltered ; her trust in Him was strong and 
steadfast to the end. In her last sickness, when 
she was about to die, the twenty-third Psalm was 
read to her, and with calm assurance she responded 
thus : 

" The Lord is my Shepherd. He is the good Shepherd, who laid 
down his life for the sheep. He is all my hope, and all my salva- 
tion. He has restored my soul, and given me bread to eat that the 
world knoweth not of." 

Her dear husband was, at this time, traveling 
abroad ; she longed to see him once more ; but 
being assured that this was impossible, she peace- 
fully acquiesced in this dispensation of Divine 
Providence, with wonderful composure and resig- 
nation, saying: 

" The Lord's will be done. I can walk through the valley cf the 
shadow of death, fearing no evil, assured that my Shepherd's rod 
and staff will comfort me, and that I shall dwell in the house of the 
Lord forever." 

And SO it was ordered ; for, on the twentieth of 
September, 1848, before Dr. Maclay reached home, 
his dearly beloved wile fell asleep in Jesus ; her 
precious soul, resting from the labors of this life, 
and passing out of this world of sin and sorrow, 



40 The Lineage of 

entered into tlie joy of our Lord in heaven, there to 
dwell forever in our Father's house of "many 
mansions" ; and her body, waiting the resurrection 
of the just, was lovingly laid in the lap of mother 
earth, beneath the quiet shades of Greenwood. 

In the life and character of this good woman, 
we have an example of real nobility. She inherited 
from her ancestors, and transmitted to posterity, 
some of the best qualities of that stalwart race, of 
which she herself was a bright but modest orna- 
ment. And in the honorable career of her children, 
for which they are, in no small measure, indebted 
to the gentle blood, prudential care, judicioiis train- 
ing, and j)ious instructions of a noble mother, we 
have, for time and eternity, a true and lasting 
record of her worth. 

From the foregoing sketch, brief but comprehen- 
sive as it is, the reader will be able to form some 
just idea of the family to which William B. Maclay 
belonged, and to understand how much he was in- 
debted to his immediate progenitors, the source 
from which he sprung, and the moulding influences 
under which he was brought up. Proudly preten- 
tious, indeed, yet well ]:)ecoming a child of such 
parentage, are those exquisite, fitting words, in 
that masterpiece of the sweet-singing Cowper, writ- 
ten upon the receipt of liis mother's picture : 

My boast is not that I deduce my birth 
From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth ; 
But higher, far, my proud pretensions rise — 
A child of parents passed into the skies. 




'(f^LiLIAM Bl^OWM (QAGLiAY. 



Hon. William B. Mctclay 41 



LIFE OF HON. WILLIAM B. MACLAY 



He was born in the City of New York, March 20, 
1812. Speaking of his age, his father once humor- 
ously said to the writer: "William is just forty- 
five minutes older than his brother, Archibald/' 
From infancy he was under religious influence. In 
childhood he had the constant care and training of 
pious parents. Among the teachers of his youth 
were Rev. Daniel H. Barnes and Rev. Jonathan B, 
Kidder, of New York, and Rev. John O. Choules, 
D.D., of Newport, Rhode Island. When twenty 
years of age he was matriculated in the University 
of the City of New York, where he graduated 
with the highest honors of his class in 1836. His 
diploma, from that institution, was a testimonial of 
real merit ; for he was then an actual proficient, 
both in scholarship and oratory. His Valedictory 
elicited universal applause. It was a clear exhibi- 
tion of that high order of talent, which he had 
already evinced in his undergraduate orations. 
His address on Patriotism, delivered before the 
Peithologian Society, while in his Junior year, will 
bear favorable comparison with the eloquent pro- 
ductions of Patrick Henry, under the inspiration 
of the American Revolution. If any one thinks 

4 



42 ' The Life of 

me extravagant in this encomium, let liim scan the 
writings of Henry, and there overmatch, if he can, 
the following sample oi Maclay's address : 

"He whose soul does not stir within him when reflecting that 
brighter days are dawning upon our race, and, instead of contem- 
plating fetters struck from the body, Liberty enjoyed like the com- 
mon air, and the unshackled mind, expatiating freely in the varied 
fields of intellectual exertion, dwells with continual shuddering 
upon the gidf of blood and tears which must be crossed, resembles 
the man, who, looking at the tempest, throwing its gloom over the 
face of the landscape, and pouring its violence upon hill and valley, 
forgets that, when its rage is spent, the clouds will roll away, the sun 
break brightly through the heavens, and the gladdened earth put 
forth the freshened bloom and renovated beauty of its luxuriance. 
Let the storm convidse the political world, and rock the towers of 
feudalism to their base, the whispers of reason and the analogies of 
nature assure us that a heaven-born calm, a permanent serenity, will 
succeed its outbreaking. No sacrifice can be too great to establish 
a great truth. He who stigmatizes opposition to the encroachments 
of power as rebellion, or deprecates the blood shed in any struggle 
for liberty as an unnecessary sacrifice, may have the form of a man, 
but he has not the heart of a patriot. What! lament the blood 
poured forth in such a cause ! Rather, let every heart leap with holy 
exxdtation, that, there are men, who prove their alliance with a nobler 
nature, by not counting their lives dear unto themselves, when the 
degradation of our species hinges upon their preservation ; and who, 
for the safety of their wives, the welfare of their kindred, and the 
honor of their country, esteem it glorious to die." Dulce et decorum 
est pro patria mori. 



It is no stretch of truth to say — ^and, in a eulogy 
upon one, who has closed his career on earth, with 
honor to himself and all concerned, there is nothing 
fulsome in saying it — that William B. Maclay, when 
he graduated at the head of the first class ever 
matriculated in the University of the City of New 
York, exliibiting such creditable attainments, as 
the first-fruits of that infant institution of learning, 
contributed an honorable quota to the early fame 
of his Alma Mater. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 43 

Immediately after Ms graduation, Mr, Maclay 
was appointed Professor, pro tem., of the Latin 
Language and Literature in the University, in the 
place of Professor Proudfit, who was then tempo- 
rarily abroad for the benefit of his health. And 
soon thereafter he became associated with McEl- 
ligott and Weed in the editorship of the New YorJc 
Quarterly Review, wherein a great part of the 
literary labor devolved upon Mr. Maclay. Among 
the many articles known to be from his pen in that 
periodical, those on Lockhart's Life of Walter 
Scott, on the Religious Opinions of Washington, 
and on Mrs. Jameson's Characteristics of the Wo- 
men of Shakespeare are notably conspicuous ; any 
one of which would do credit to a writer of far 
greater fame. 

In 1838 Mr. Maclay was elected one of the Council 
or Board of Trustees of the University ; and he was 
ever thereafter, as long as he lived, a faithful, 
efficient member of that body. His membership, 
at the time of his death, was the oldest in the 
Council ; and it is said that, during this period of 
forty-four years, whenever he was in the city and 
physically able to attend, he never missed a meet- 
ing of that Board. 

In 1839, a little more than two years after leaving 
college, Mr. Maclay was admitted to the bar, and, 
in partnership with his brother-in-law, Isaac P. Mar- 
tin, Esq., commenced the practice of law in the City 
of New York, with a fair prospect of rising to emi- 
nence in that profession. His legal abilities were 



44 The Life of 

soon put to the test. He was associated with the 
celebrated Ogden Hoffman in the defense of a man 
accused of murder. On the trial Mr. Maclay was 
to open the case for the defense, and Mr. Hoffman 
was to sum ui^ and make the closing address to the 
jury. Pursuant to this arrangement Mr. Maclay 
made a straightforward, impartial statement of the 
facts in the case, commenting briefly thereon ; he 
then made an impassioned appeal to the jury, vindi- 
cating the right to take life under certain circum- 
stances, as in self-defense ; and finally he ex- 
pounded the law, according to which, he said, a 
verdict of acquittal would be asked for and ex- 
pected by the defense. When the evidence was all 
in on both sides, it corresponded so well with what 
Mr. Maclay had said in his opening, that, Mr. Hoff- 
man proposed to submit the case to the jury with- 
out any summing up by counsel. The prosecution 
assenting, and the jury having heard the -judge's 
charge and duly considered the case, brought in a 
verdict of acquittal. This verdict, being manifestly 
approved by the Court and the public, reflected 
great credit on the counsel for the defense ; and the 
friends of Mr. Maclay were flushed mth special 
admiration, in view of the important part, which he 
had acted in the trial, and the compliment, which 
his distinguished colleague had so handsomely paid 
to him, by magnanimously signalizing the success of 
his debut at the bar of his native city. It needed 
no prophet to see, in such a beginning, the earnest 
of future eminence; and men well qualified to judge, 



Hon. William B. Maclay 45 

then predicted for Mr. Maclay a brilliant career in 
the legal profession. But, as aforesaid, the attrac- 
tions of patriotic statesmanship, together with the 
influence of political friends, who highly appreciated 
his talents, overcame the strongest inducements of 
a lucrative practice, in the routine of a lawyer's 
office, and turned the course of his life to the legis- 
lative halls of the State and the nation. 

In politics Mr. Maclay was a pronounced Demo- 
crat, of the Jacksonian type. He heartily approved 
of Jackson's financial policy in vetoing the United 
States bank, which w^as then one of the most excit- 
ing political topics of the day. As between a 
national bank, either as an independent institution, 
under Government agents, or as fiduciary deposi- 
tories in charge of private corporations, and an inde- 
pendent national treasury, Mr. Maclay advocated 
the latter. His address on that subject, delivered at 
Poughkeepsie in 1840, is a masterly production ; de- 
monstrating the soundness of that treasury system, 
which a powerful political party, being unable to 
put down by argument, strove to bring into popular 
contempt by odious caricatures — a system which 
all parties now approve, and which the experience 
of nearly half a century has shown to be the normal 
aorta of the body politic, from which all the arteries 
of national finance naturally proceed. 

Ill 1839 Mr. Maclay was elected to the Legisla- 
ture. At that time members of the Assembly were 
elected by counties, all candidates in the same county 
being on one ticket — a system which has advantages 



46 The Life of 

over election by districts ; since, as a general rule, 
the more numerous the constituency, in a represent- 
ative government, the greater will be the responsi- 
bility and honor of representing it, while the chances 
of obtaining a su])erior class of representatives are 
proportionally increased. It was under the old 
system, which was in force until 184(), that Mr. 
Maclay was elected a member of the Assembly in 
in 1839, and re-elected in 1840 and in 1841. In all 
the sessions of the Legislature, during his member- 
ship, Mr. Maclay aj^pears to have taken an active 
part in the business of that body, and a leading part 
in all that pertained especially to the City of New 
York. Although comparatively young and inex- 
perienced, his foresight and Judgment, in matters 
of legislation, were far above those of the average 
politician. It is worthy of note, as an illustration 
of this characteristic, that, during the first term of 
Mr. Maclay' s service in the Legislature, onl}'^ two of 
the bills, which he had strenuously opposed, were 
finally passed ; and that both of these were annulled 
within two years thereafter ; one being repealed, 
and the other being pronounced, by the highest Ju- 
dicial authority of the State, unconstitutional. 

It would take up too much space, in this sketch, 
to speak particularly of all the doings of the Legis- 
lature, in which Mr. Maclay took an active part. 
A few instances, taken as examples of the whole, 
must suffice. In the session of 1841, he introduced 
and procured the passage of an act in relation to 
the Superior Court, and the Court of Common Pleas, 



Hon. William B. Maclay 4Y 

for the City and County of N^ew York, wMcli was 
remarkable for the novelty of its provisions, and 
the practical wisdom which it evinced. 

The business of these courts had accumulated so 
rapidly, after the panic of 1837, that, although sit- 
ting constantly ten hours every day, they could not 
keep up with their calendars ; that of the Common 
Pleas alone having run up to nine hundred causes. 
In this exigency the Legislature was called upon to 
create new courts. But to such an expedient there 
were grave objections ; and Mr. Maclay hit upon a 
plan, which was as simi)le and economical as it was 
novel. In this plan he proposed, that, each court 
should be empowered to hold as many sessions, 
simultaneously, as there were judges. That is to 
say. Instead of having three judges sitting In hanlc^ 
at every session, he proposed to have the court di- 
vided into three parts ; each part being empowered 
to try causes, at Special Term, before a single jus- 
tice ; requiring a full bench of all the judges, only at 
a General Term, for the trial of causes coming up on 
appeal from the Special Term. Thus it was claimed, 
that, without the addition of a single judge, the ef- 
ficiency of these courts would be increased three- 
fold. The plan was approved, the bill was passed, 
and in less than a year the evil was obviated. These 
courts, though now sometimes crowded with busi- 
ness, have never, under the new regime, been over- 
crowded with that accumulation, which they had 
not the capacity and power to dispose of. The sim- 



48 The Life of 

plicity and success of this expedient demonstrated 
the practical wisdom of its author. 

Again, there was at that time a very inconven- 
ient, cumbersome, and expensive arrangement for 
the trial of certain cases in the State Court. A 
special term was held in Albany every month for 
the dispatch of that large class of business known 
to lawyers as non-enumerated. Nearly one half of 
this business originated in the City of New York, 
and a large share of it was transacted during the 
winter months ; when the only public conveyance 
between these cities was, in those days, by stage- 
coaches ; thus subjecting both lawyers and clients 
to tedious journeys, and great expense of time and 
money. Yet no attempt had ever been made to 
alter this arrangement, until Mr. Maclay introduced 
a bill, empowering the judge of the New York Cir- 
cuit to hear and determine all business of this 
description, arising within his circuit, and permit- 
ting parties to bring in their motions before him at 
the City Hall in New York on short notice. Mr. 
Maclay' s bill was passed, and this class of business 
was thereafter dispatched with far greater facility 
at much less expense. 

There is another matter which deserves particular 
notice here, because it exhibits so well the estima- 
tion in which Mr. Maclay was held, by his fellow- 
members of the Legislature. The credit of the 
State, to the amount of three millions of dollars, had 
been loaned to the New York and Erie Railroad 
Company ; and grave charges or imputations were 



Hon. William B. Maclay 49 

made against the company, respecting its use or 
abuse of that credit. For the purpose of investigat- 
ing the matter, a committea of three was chosen by 
ballot, with power to send for persons and papers, 
and authorized to sit during the recess of the Legis- 
lature. The appointment of Mr. Maclay on that 
committee was a signal proof of the confidence re- 
posed in his wisdom and integrity. The labors of 
that committee extended over a period of six 
months, and included an exploring tour of five hun- 
dred miles, through the southern tier of counties, 
from the Hudson river to Lake Erie. Its official 
report, printed by order of the Legislature, and 
making a volume of one thousand pages, shows that 
a large share of the labor was performed by Mr. 
Maclay ; and that, too, in a manner as indicative of 
his fidelit3^ as it was creditable to his intelligence 
and industry. 

Another important public service, performed by 
Mr. Maclay in the L3gislature, must be put to his 
credit in this memorial. The journals of the Pro- 
vincial Congress of New York for 1776, containing 
many original, unpublished letters of George Wash- 
ington, Franklin, Hancock, Green, Warren, Mont- 
gomery, Jay, Ethan Allen, and other distinguished 
men of revolutionary fame, had been allowed to re- 
main in manuscript, subject to irreparable loss from 
mutilation and decay, until Mr. Maclay, in 1842, 
brushed away the dust and cob-web accumulations 
which had covered them, and obtained the passage of 
a resolution authorizing their publication. Where- 



50 The Life of 

as, now, mainly through him, as the original mover 
of the transaction, we have these records printed in 
two elegant folio volumes, well preserved and al- 
ways available — an invaluable addition to the pub- 
lic history of the Empire State. The late Thurlow 
Weed, then editor of the Albany Emning Journal^ 
in a notice of this subject, says : "To the Hon. Mr. 
Furman, chairman of the Library Committee in the 
Senate, and to the Hon. Mr. Maclay, chairman of 
the Literature Committee of the Assembly, the peo- 
ple are indebted for the rescue of these unpublished 
memorials of the patriotism, gallantry, and wisdom 
of their revolutionary fathers.' ' 

But the most important measure with which Mr. 
Maclay was identified, in the State Legislature, was 
that in relation to popular education. He had the 
honor of introducing and procuring the passage of 
an Act, by which the system of public schools, now 
maintained in the City and County of "N^ew York, 
was originally established. Prior to that, all mat- 
ters pertaining to popular education, in this city, 
were under the control of a private corporation, 
called the Public School Society ; and that society 
was invested with the power of a self-perpetuating 
constituency, exempt from any authority, expressly 
reserved by the Legislature, to repeal or modify its 
charter. And this oligarchic, independent corpora- 
tion had the disbursement of nine-tenths of all the 
money, raised by general taxation, or apportioned 
from the funds of the State, for the support of 
these public schools. Such an institution was too 



Hon. William B. Maclay 51 

exotic to be long tolerated in this democratic repub- 
lic. It had become extremely unpopular, and pow- 
erful petitions were sent up to the Legislature, 
asking for a change. The matter was referred to 
the Committee on Colleges, Academies, and Com- 
mon Schools, of which Mr. Maclay was chairman. 
After judicious consultation and due deliberation, 
involving an immense amount of arduous labor, the 
chairman, in behalf of the committee, reported a 
bill, entitled "An Act to extend to the City and 
County of New York, the provisions of the general 
Act, in relation to Common Schools"; referring to 
the general law, passed in 1812, for the establish- 
ment of common schools in the State of New York ; 
from the oiDeration and provisions of which, the 
City and County of New York had been theretofore 
excepted. 

Thus the proposition to change the system of 
public schools, in the City of New York, was j)re- 
sented in the mildest form possible. The schools 
already organized were not to be forcibly broken up, 
or suddenly abolished ; but to be gradually super- 
seded by new ones, formed and maintained on a 
different platform ; a platform, however, which 
involved no experiment ; since it was already un- 
derlying that well-tried system, on which the com- 
mon schools, elsewhere, in the State, had been, for 
thirty years, in successful operation. And, thus, 
those who wanted a change, obtained what they 
sought for, while those who desired to retain the 
old sj^stem, were allowed to maintain what they 



52 The Life of 

contended for ; so that, in effect, tlie violence of 
conflict was checked, and the shock of revulsion 
avoided. In fact, the former were victorious, and 
the latter vtinquished ; but, as the exultation of 
victory had no contrast in the chagrin of defeat, it 
was "the rose without a thorn." 

Whatever opinions may have prevailed, at that 
time, as to the means by which this measure was 
carried, it is now evident, that, success was not ob- 
tained by the strength of superior forces alone, en- 
listed on the merits of the case. For, if the popu- 
lar party had joined issue with the oligarchy, by a 
direct antagonism, the most powerful efforts of the 
former must have miscarried ; the opposition of the 
latter would have been absolutely invincible. Bat, 
by a qualified concession, the friends of the bill 
gained the essential point of their case, without 
suffering thereby any ultimate loss. And herein is 
manifest the vrisdom, by which, this difficult under- 
taking was managed and made successful — " not by 
might nor by power" alone ; but, largely, through 
the conciliatory spirit, and consummate skill, which 
crown the highest qualities of a statesman. 

Candid men, who now look back from our stand- 
point, and consider the nature of this change, with 
its beneficent results, may well be at a loss to ac- 
count for the opposition, which was then made, to 
what now seems so reasonable. And it is due to the 
memory of Mr. Maclay, that, this matter should be 
briefly explained. It is not necessary to take into 
account the ordinary causes, which naturally give 



Hon. William B. Maclay 53 

rise to opposition, whenever it is proposed to change 
any old, established law or custom. These will 
suggest themselves, upon the slightest reflection. 
But, in this case, there was a special cause, which 
cannot be well understood, without a word of ex- 
planation. 

There was, at that time, in the City of New York, 
a serious disagreement, between Protestants and 
Roman Catholics, about the system of their common 
schools ; the former adhering tenaciously to the old 
system, as organized under the Act of 183B ; the 
latter objecting to that system, as sectarian in i)rin- 
ciple, and extremely unjust in practice. Many 
Protestants admitted the desirableness of a change ; 
but they were afraid, that, in attempting to harmo- 
nize the different parties, upon any other common 
system, they would be carried from bad to worse. 
Hence they determined to stick to the old system ; 
and it became strictly a party question, between 
Catholics and Protestants ; the former demanding 
a specific change ; the latter uniting in opposition 
to any change whatever. And the party line was so 
distinctly drawn upon this alternative — change or 
no change — that no Protestant could favor the 
affirmative, without falling under the suspicion, 
that, he was in collusion, or, at least, in sympathy, 
with Catholics. When, therefore, Mr. Maclay' s 
bill, providing for the introduction of a new system, 
was reported in the Assembly, it created intense 
excitement, not only in the City of New York, but 
throughout the State and the country. The bare 



5i Tlie Life of 

proposition of a change, made to the Assembly, 
upon the recommendation of its committee, was 
enough, under existing circumstances, to confirm 
the Protestants' suspicion, that the measure was 
designed to favor the Catholics. And, when it be- 
came known, that, Bishop Hughes and his Church, 
were in favor of the bill, assurance took the place of 
suspicion, and was made doubly sure by the uni- 
versal outcry of collusion. Protestants, almost 
without exception, the press, the pulpit, and the 
people, with one voice, condemned the bill, and 
denounced its author. I well remember the edi- 
torial comments of a religious paper in central New 
York, lamenting, that, the gifted son of Father 
Maclay had struck hands with the Catholics, on the 
school question. And many, who are still living, 
bear witness, that, the exciting harangues, and the 
inflammatory publications, put forth, on this sub- 
ject, in the City of New York, (to say nothing of 
the more sober, but equally effective discussions 
and appeals of the pulpit and the press,) produced 
a popular commotion, but little short of a gen- 
eral riot. Yet, notwithstanding this intense, wide- 
spread, excitement, and this powerful opposition, 
the school bill was passed by both branches of the 
Legislature, signed by his Excellency the Governor, 
William H. Seward, and thus became a law of the 
State, after having narrowly escaped defeat by a 
majority of one vote only in the Senate. 

In accordance with the provisions of this law, the 
new system of public schools for the City of New 



Hon. William B. Maclay 55 

York, was peacefully inaugnrated ; and, rapidly 
growing in public favor, it soon superseded the Pub- 
lic School Society, which, by a natural death, be- 
came extinct in 1853. And, now, after a trial of 
forty years, without so much as an attempt at any 
material alteration, this system stands, if not above 
the plane, at least, on the highest level, of the best 
institutions for popular education in this country. 
Its approval is unqualified and universal ; the vin- 
dication of its author is complete. The bare state- 
ment of the facts in this case is sufficient. It would 
be worse than useless to multiply words in the face 
of such a record. 

But it is proper to state more particularly the 
views of Mr. Maclay on the relation of public 
schools, and religion, to the State. The truth is, he 
had a clear, consistent and well-defined idea, or 
theory, of the legitimate province of public edu- 
cation, under the patronage of the State, in a popular 
government. He believed in a system of common 
schools for the instruction of youth, in all the 
branches of learning, which are necessary and 
adapted to promote the common interests of society, 
in a commonwealth, where the common treasury of 
the State is taxed for their support ; leaving paro- 
chial, and other private schools, to be supported by 
the parish, or society, with which they are more 
specifically connected, and to whose distinctive in- 
terests they are especially devoted. In the matter 
of religion he favored the most unrestrained indi- 
vidual liberty, consistent with the general interests 



56 TTie Life of 

of society ; holding, that, every man has a right to 
worship God according to the dictates of his own 
conscience, so long as he does not interfere with the 
equal rights of his neighbor ; and conceding to 
others, in this matter, all that he claimed, from them, 
for himself. In respect to civil society, he knew its 
constituents only, as fellow-citizens of the same 
commonwealth, all alike entitled to its protection, 
and proportionally obligated for its support ; and 
that, too, without regard to any particular creed, or 
form, of religion, by which different classes of the 
same community may be distinguished. And in 
devising, or reforming a system of common schools, 
to be established and maintained, in a community of 
diverse classes, for the general purposes of public 
education, nothing could have induced William B. 
Maclay to strike in with Catholics against Protest- 
ants, or with Protestants against Catholics, He 
did not belong to that sort of men. He had no such 
spirit or principle ; he was not given to any such 
practice. Happily, he himself has spoken, on this 
point, in words, which no candid man will controvert 
or criticize. In one of his earliest utterances, before 
the public, speaking of this country, as the land of 
liberty, the home of freedom, he says : 

''The history of the last fifty years has furnished the most grati- 
fying evidence, that, men of every nation, and sects of every name, can 
here exist, with their characteristic lines of separation, and yet pos- 
sess a common desire, and a common determination to perpetuate the 
liberties, and honor the institutions, of the country of their birth or 
adoption. And he, who attempts to break down these lines, and 
seeks, by inflaming every bad passion, to array one sect against 
another, shovdd be regarded as a lunatic, with a torch in his hand. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 57 

whom it is inciimbent on all to put down ; lest, like another incendi- 
ary, he should gain a deathless, but unenviable renown, by firing a 
magnificent temple." 

And, in a letter, written from Washington to a po- 
litical association in New York, at a later period, on 
a subject, which, at that time, was not altogether 
popular, he says : 

"I can express myself with the more freedom, upon this subject, 
because, although frequently a candidate for public favor, I have 
never been base enough, either to adopt, or relinquish, an opinion, to 
gain such favor; and no one, who knows me, will attribute the sen- 
timents, which I now utter, to any motive less honorable than that 
of a sincere conviction. I 

" 'Never sold the truth to serve the hour, 

Nor paltered with Almighty God for power.' " 



In 1842 Mr. Maclay was elected to Congress, from 
a Congressional District, in the City of New York, 
where he was born and broiight up ; and for four 
terras thereafter, extending over a period of nearly 
twenty years, he was re-elected, in 1844, 1848, 1856, 
and 1858, by the same constituency. He was dis- 
tinguished at Washington, as he was at Albany, for 
his scrupulous punctuality, and his diligent attention 
to business. He took a deep interest in all the do- 
ings of Congress, but esiDecially in matters, which 
directly concerned the district that he represented. 
Whenever the House was in session, Mr. Maclay was 
in his seat, unless the providence of G-od prevented 
him ; and no matter, of which he had charge, was 
suffered to fail for want of attention ; for, he was in- 
variably honest and faithful. 

It would exceed the proper limits of this sketch, 

5 



58 Tlie Life of 

to comment, at lengtli, on all the important measures, 
with which Mr. Mac! ay was connected in Congress ; 
and a few representative cases will be taken, as ex- 
ponents of the whole. 

Upon his first appearance in Congress, Mr. Maclay 
made a record, which, thongli apparently of little or 
no account in itself, will ever redound to his credit. 
Prof. Morse had just made the greatest discovery of 
the age, by the invention of the electric telegraph. 
He asked Congress to aid him in demonstrating the 
practical utility of this invention. In this applica- 
tion, he met with many discouragements, and not a 
little strenuous opposition. It was made in 1838, 
but was put ofl', from time to time, till 1842, when 
Mr. Maclay first took his seat. He was among those 
who appreciated the extraordinary merits of this 
discovery, and he did all in his power to procure the 
passage of Morse's bill. The Act was finally passed, 
and the necessary aid was thereby obtained. In his 
address, at the unveiling of the Morse monument, in 
Central Park, New York, in June, 1871, Prof. IVIorse 
himself puts into the record a very handsome recog- 
nition of Mr. Maclay' s services in his behalf. He 
speaks of his former ai3plication, as having failed, 
and then says : 

''It was not until 1842, that it was again submitted to Congress, 
Ferris, Kennedy, Winthrop, Aycrigg, Maday, and Wood, and many 
others in the House, far-seeing statesmen, rallied to its support, 
and, at length, by a bare majority, the bill, that was necessary, was 
carried through the ordinary forms, and sent to the Senate, where it 
met no opposition, and was passed the last night of the session." 

To encourage a student of nature, plodding in the 



Hon. WiJliam B. Maclay 59 

fields of scientific research, was a noble deed ; to 
help an inventor, struggling to perfect his invention, 
and demonstrate its utility, was a beneficent act ; 
but to perceive and appreciate beforehand, the 
immense benefits of an invention, so as to participate 
with the inventor, in the anticipation of its actual 
results, was to merit that magnificent encomium, 
which Prof. Morse here pronounces upon the mem- 
bers of Congress, avIio, of the "bare majority," in 
the House, voted for the telegraph bill of 1842 ; dis- 
tinguishing them as "far-seeing statesmen." 
And no one was more worthy of this honorable dis- 
tinction than William B. Maclay. 

In the famous Oregon controversy, running 
throiTgh a period of more than a quarter of a cent- 
ury, in which the ablest speakers and writers in 
Congress, under President Polk's administration, 
participated, Mr. Maclay took the ground, that, our 
title to that territory was " clear and unquestion- 
able " ; and, that, the business ought to be settled on 
that basis, without further dispute or delay. His 
argument was manifestly unanswerable, and had 
great weight in determining the ultimatum of the 
United States in this controversy. The Hon. Lewis 
Cass, United States Senator from Michigan, refer- 
ring to this argument, said : 

"Mr. Maclay has given the clearest brief statement of our title to 
Oregon, that I have yet seen, and in language, which must find a 
response in every bosom." 

The following extract is worthy of a place in this 
memorial, on account of its intrinsic importance, as 



60 The Life of 

a matter of history, and by reason of its relation to 
the life of its author : 

"This question has been five times the subject of negotiation, 
since the year 1818 — twice during the administration of Mr. Monroe, 
once diu'iug the term of Mr. Adams, once during that of Mr. Tyler, 
and recently by Mr. Polk. On the first of these occasions, the nego- 
tiations terminated by a consent to a Convention, which was held in 
October, 1818. A treaty was adopted, by the third article of 
which, it was 'agi'eed, that any country, that may be claimed by 
either party, on the northwest coast of America, westward of the 
Stony Mountains, shall together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, 
and navigation of all rivers, within the same, be free and open for 
the term of ten years from the date of the signature of the present 
Convention, to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two powers ; 
it being well xinderstood, that, this agreement is not to be eonsti'ued to 
the prejudice of any claim, which either of the two higli contracting 
parties may have to any part of the said country ; nor shall it be 
taken to affect the claims of any other Power, or State, to any part 
of the said country ; the only object of the high contracting parties, 
in that respect, being to prevent disputes and dift'erences among 
themselves.' 

" In the year 1824, negotiations were again opened for an adjust- 
ment of the difliculties, but were attended with no better success. 
Two years subsequently, a third attempt was eqiially abortive ; but 
another Convention was agreed upon, to be held in 1827, at which it 
was agreed, that, the pro^dsions of the treaty of 1818, should con- 
tinue in effect for an indefinite period ; and provided, fm'ther, that 
either should have the privilege of terminating the joint occupancy, 
at any time after the 20th October, 1828, upon gi-s^ing notice to the 
other party, and at the expiration of this notice, the treaty should 
be null and void. This is the treaty now subsisting. 

"On all these occasions, our Government, desirous of pi'eserving 
peace, and continuing a mutually useful and beneficial iutercoui'se, 
between the two countries, advanced to the negotiation in a spirit 
of the most generous and self-sacrificing compromise ; and it is only 
necessary to retrace, very briefly, the grounds and foundation of oiir 
title, in order to discover how much territory we have actually offered 
to abandon, that every principle of public law establishes as ours. 

"Our title to the territory lying between 42"^, 54-^' 40', and parallels 
of latitude on the Northwest Coast, as against Great Britain, is 
predicated upon four separate and perfect grounds — discovery and 
occupancy, contiguity and continuity, the purchase of Louisiana 
from France, and the Florida treaty of 1819 with Spain. 

" The claim of discovery to the region watered by the Columbia is 
based upon the voyage of Capt. Gray, who anchored in the river in 
the spring of 1792, and named it after his vessel, "the Columbia"; 
opposed to the right of the alleged discoveries of Lieuts. Meares and 
Vancouver, the former of whom did not discover the river. Van- 
couver, also, explored the coast four years afterwards, with no better 



Hon. William B. Maclay 61 

success. And it was not until he met Capt. Gray, tliat he knew of 
the existence of such a river ; nor until five months subsequent to that 
discovery, that, he entered and surveyed it, being then guided by a 
chart prei^ared and left at Nootka Sound by Capt. Gray. 

" Such is the incontestable proof of our claim of discovering the 
mouth of the Columbia, crossing the Bar and sailing up the stream. 
Without reciting the prior discovery of a Spanish navigator, whose 
rights descended to us, under the Floiida treaty ; and these compose 
an element of the title as strong and irrefragable, as if the original 
act had been performed by an American, under the immediate recog- 
nition and authority of the President and Secretary of State. 

"In regard to the settlement and occupancy om* priority is equally 
well established. A company was organized in New York in the 
year 1810, imder the direction of John Jacob Astor, the object of 
which was to form a connected chain of establishments on the 
Columbia river and the Coast of the Pacific, for commercial pur- 
poses. At the opening of the following year they made the fii'st 
establishment upon the south side of the river, a few miles above 
Point George * when they were visited, in July following, by Mr. 
Thompson, as Surveyor and Astronomer of the Northwest Company, 
and his party.' That company had been sent out to forestall the 
American enterprise in occupying the mouth of the river, but was 
defeated in the object Two other establishments were formed by 
the American Company, higher up the river ; one at the confluence 
of the Okenegan with the north branch of the Columbia, about six 
hundred miles above its mouth ; and the other at the Spokan, a stream 
falling into the north branch about fifty miles above. 

" Those posts passed into the possession of Great Britain during 
the last war, but were relinquished to our Government, under the 
first article of the treaty of Ghent, which concluded the peace. 
Upon this basis rests our title, independent of all collateral rights, 
for the discovery, exploration, settlement, and occujiation of the 
country watered by the Columbia. 

''The rights imder contiguity will hardly be disputed; at least, 
they have not been, with any degree of force up to this period ; and 
I propose to show, that, those of contintdty, which Mr. Calhoun (no 
common authority) alleges, ' fm-nish a just foundation for a claim to 
this territory, in connection with those of discovery and o.^cupation.' 

" By the treaty of Louisiana, ratified in 1803, we acquired all the 
rights which Prance had to Louisiana, ' to the extent it now has [at 
that time, 1803] in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France 
possessed it, and should be after the treaties subsequently entered 
into by Spain and other States.' 

"By the cession of Louisiana we obtained an unquestionable title 
west of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, and stretching 
south between that river and the mountains, to the possessions of 
Spain, the line between which and ours was subsequently deter- 
mined by the treaty of Florida. It also strengthened our title to the 
country beyond the Stony Moimtains, by restoring the link of con- 
tiguity westward to the Pacific, which had been sun-endered by the 
treaty of 1763, which terminated the memorable and eventfiil strug- 



62 The Life of 

gle between France and England, and which commenced in a con- 
flict of claims between the two countries, both resting on this right 
of country. 

"Under the treaty of Florida, the King of Spain 'ceded to the 
United States all his rights, claims, and pretensions,' to the eoimtry 
west of the Rocky Mountains, and north of the forty-second parallel 
of latitude. It will not be contended that Spain had not the original 
title to the region lying west of the Stony Mountains, from 42° to 
54° 40', and even beyond that point as claimed by the United States ; 
and the only question at issue is, whether her treaty with England 
of 1790, at the Nootka Sound Convention, so divested herself of 
these rights, as to leave no title remaining capable of being trans- 
ferred to our Government by the Florida treaty ; in fact, whether 
the ownership of Spain in these possessions, was, or was not, sur- 
rendered at the Convention referred to. 

"The voyage of discovery along the northwestern coast of this 
continent, upon the part of Spain, commenced as early as the year 
1528, tmder Moldano, and ended with those of Galiano and Valdez, 
in 1592. They explored the entire territory of Oregon, and even 
still further north. These claims, which establish the priority of 
discovery by Spain, were conveyed to us under the treaty of Floi-ida. 

"It only remains for me to examine the character of the title 
which Great Britain possessed, imder the Nootka Sound Conven- 
tion, upon which her Plenipotentiary, after being defeated, at every 
other point, has fallen back upon as his last stay and support. 

" This treaty, which was adopted upon the 28th of October, 1790, 
between Spain and Great Britain, conferred upon the latter no joint 
sovereignty, in the soil ; no di\ision or acknowledgment of title ; no 
participation in the rights of Spain, but merely and solehj the privi- 
lege of trading with the Indians, while the comitry was unsettled, 
and of constructing the necessary appendages for that purpose. 

' ' But granting, for the sake of a rgument, that a most extraordinary 
construction of the treaty, in question, (that of 1790), did confer upon 
Great Britain, an implied acknowledgment of certain co-existing 
rights, what became of the treaty upon the declaration of war by 
Spain against Great Britain in 1796 f It was thenceforth a dead 
letter upon the diplomatic records, valueless and inoperative in every 
respect, unless renewed by the contracting parties, mth equal 
solemnity and form, which has never oecuri'ed from that day to this. 
Under the general rule of national law, recognized and asserted by 
Great Britain herself in 1815, in the negotiations with this Govern- 
ment, in the following langiiage : " All treaties are put an end to by 
a subsequent war between the same parties," the provisions of this 
treaty were annulled toto c(clo, and the rights and immunities of each 
nation stood as they did before the convention was formed. 

"It has thiis been substantiated, hastily and cm-sorily, to be sure, 
that, the title to the Oregon territory is vested in this Government, 
by priority of discovery, settlement, and occupancy, by continuity of 
possession, derived from the cession of Louisiana, which not only 
transferred all the original rights of France, but those which she 
derived from Great Britain by the treaty of 1763, which established 



Hon. William B. JSIaclay 63 

the Mississippi, as the in-evoeable boundary between the territories 
of France and Great Britain, and suiTendered to France all the 
claims of Great Britain on this continent west of that river, includ- 
ing all within the limits of her colonies, which then extended to the 
Pacific Ocean. To this continuation of ownership to the Pacific 
Ocean, there was no interposing occupant save Spain, and her 
interests became oiu's by the Florida treaty. 

" It will have been perceived by this rapid review, of the history 
of our original and derived rights, that the whole territory between 
the parallels of 42-^ and 54"-' 40', belongs to the United States, if the 
principles, admitted in the code of nations for the acquisition of 
territory, and never yet disputed, are permitted to prevail. And, 
yet, in the face of this clear position, and perfect title, om- Govern- 
ment has, on five separate occasions, and under four different 
Presidents, tendered an adjustment of this question, whereby nearly 
half of the whole region in dispute was to be abandoned, for the 
sake of compromise, harmony, and peace between the two nations. 

"I deplore the horrors and disasters of war, as much as any man ; 
I would prevent them by every honorable and consistent means; I 
would not invoke that dread calamity without the most just cause, 
and the most extreme necessity ; but there is a point, beyond which 
forbearance ceases to be a virtue ; so, too, there is a time when 
nations must not compromise the public honor, and relinquish the 
public rights, for no other sake than that of peace. Our repeated 
propositions have been met with anything else than a corresponding 
spirit of compromise, by Great Britain, and there stands but a single 
instance of any disposition to an arrangement — and that a most 
exceptionable one — against all our offers and attempts at an adjust- 
ment. For one, I trust the last proposition has been made by an 
American Secretary of State. Our moderation has been construed 
into an admission of British rights, and what might have been justly 
regarded as the spirit of compromise only has been converted into a 
concession that never was contemplated. 

" I conscientiously believe that this long protracted question is 
not to be settled by protocols. We have already passed more than 
a quarter of a centiuy in unprofitable negotiations. The rights of 
the respective parties have been as well understood and defined as 
they can be hereafter. The distinguished ability and character of 
those who have acted for us, as well as for the British side of the 
question, preclude the hope of new light being thrown upon the 
subject. Nor ought we now to be disposed to add the weight of 
procrastination to the pretended ambiguity of our title to Oregon. 
The time has come when negotiation must cease, and right begin. 
We have waived our claims too long already, and the policy recom- 
mended by the President in the severest way of so recording our 
title. I shall, therefore, whenever the bill is submitted to the House 
of Representatives, vote for giving the year's notice, required by 
subsisting treaty for the termination of the joint occupancy, and 
every measure calculated to place the nation in a suitable state of 
defense. 

"Those who are disposed to cavil at any proposition which 



64 The Life of 

emanates from the Democratic side of Congress, profess to find great 
cause for censure in the resolutions of that distinguished man, who, 
as well in war as in peace, has earned the gratitude of the nation. 
Will they answisr for what have beeji the unusual and extraordinary 
preparations of England diu-ing the past year? Why the construc- 
tion of new vessels? the repairs of old ones? the addition of 
ammunition ? the moulding of cannon ? and the notes of war ? All 
this, too, in atime of profound peace, with hardly a ripple upon the 
face of the civilized globe ; and yet American patriots can find no 
cause for apprehension, no epithet of reproach, until we ask the 
extent of om- effective force. Let us tell England in om* own plain, 
Norman Saxon, that their inquiries and preparations are intended 
to prevent aggression. Nations, like men, understand each other 
best, when the simplest terms are employed, and Great Britain 
should no longer misapprehend our piu'poses. 

"The firmness evinced by the President in regard to our rights to 
the territory of Oregon, and the suggestion contained in his mes- 
sage, are those of a patriot, and the Democracy of the nation may 
indeed rejoice in the representative of their principles.'" 



Mr. Maclay was an earnest advocate for the an- 
nexation of Texas — a measure wliicli involved some 
important questions, in relation to tlie acquisition 
of territory, never before resolved in the legislation 
of this country ; which gave rise to a powerful 
oi)position. The measure, however, had elements 
that ensured its success ; it was carried with enthu- 
siastic eclat, and the results more than justified the 
arguments, which Mr. Maclay and others had put 
forth in its behalf ; thus, by the facts of practical 
demonstration, silencing, eifectually and forever, 
that opposition, which would not yield to the force 
of argument alone. Referring to a letter written by 
Mr. Maclay, on this subject, the Dally Globe^ of 
Nov. 15, 1845, says : 

" It is one, which, for clearness of conception, power of argument, 
and patriotism of purpose, has not its superior, among the political 
.records of the day." 



Hon. William B. Maclay 65 

A careful perusal of the following extract from 
that letter of Mr. Maclay will satisfy any candid 
mind, that, this estimate of the Globe is not over- 
drawn. 

"The question of the annexation of Texas is national, and not 
sectional. It involves principles, rights and interests pertaining to' 
the whole Union, and demands the enlightened and careful investi- 
gation of the patriot, the statesman, and the philanthropist. After 
having bestowed some reflection upon the subject, there is no aspect 
in which I have been able to view it that my mind has not been 
impressed with the solemn conviction that it is one soon destined to 
over-ride all party restrictions, and to assume the high and com- 
manding elevation of a question wholly and absolutely American in 
its character. 

"I regard the acquisition of this territory as but the resumption 
of a title improperly alienated, — as calculated to promote the inter- 
ests and cement the stability of our Union, as necessary to our 
protection from the aggression of a power whose dominion on this 
continent already covers an area of five hundred thousand square 
miles more than the United States and Texas added, — as important 
to the restoration of our ancient boundaries, and required in order 
to secure an unlimited control of the vast valley watered by the 
Mississippi and its tributaries, fixed and undoubted possession of 
our Gribraltai*, the Florida Pass, and the positive command of the 
Mexican Gulf. These are objects paramount with me, as they must 
be with all who contemplate a higher and greater destiny of our 
Government, — who regard in a proper light the adventurous and 
enterprising spirit of our people, — or who watch the operations of 
that jealous and ambitious rival whose red cross floats over the lines 
of our northeastern boiindary, through the accommodating agency 
of Anglo-American diplomacy, and whose standard even now dese- 
crates the soil of American possessions in Oregon. 

" While, as a matter of expediency and State policy, the annexa- 
tion of Texas has been justly considered and admitted by all as of 
the utmost consequence, not only in the accruing advantages of 
trade, intercourse, and security to the Union, but likewise for the 
establishment of those original boundaries, which emptying into and 
connecting with the waters of the West, clasp, as with a natural 
band, that immense and valuable territory stretching from New 
York to Louisiana, and thence round Texas, — there are those well 
disposed toward its acquisition who are inclined to question the 
constitutional power to re-unite our own ten'itory, or acquire new 
States by an alliance with an independent republican government, 
and who are equally skeptical as to the authority of Congress to 
annex Texas to this Union by bill or joint resolution. Let me strive 
to meet some of these objections by the same arguments that have 
satisfied all the doubts of my own mind, and settled its convictions 



6Q The Life of 

in this respect as to the grants of power delegated in express terms 
by the Constitution. For this purpose it will be proper to refer to 
the early condition and history of Texas in connection with Mexico, 
and to inquire how and when she became enrolled in the catalogue 
of nations. 

" Texas was surrendered to Spain by the treaty of 1819 when we 
acquired the territory of Florida, the possession of the latter being 
esteemed by some of the eminent men of that day as decidedly 
preferable to the former. On the other hand, distinguished states- 
men pronounced the surrender of Texas an illegal alienation of our 
rights. It is not pretended that the United States ever made a 
cession of Texas to Mexico by treaty or otherwise. It was by a 
successful revolution, the exi^iilsion of Spanish authority, and the 
recognition of her independence by this and other nations, and not 
by the mother government of Spain, that Mexico acquired any title 
to Texas. Her whole right to this territory proceeded immediately 
and exclusively from revolution. After the adoption of the Federal 
Constitution in 1824 by Mexico, and under its inducements and 
assm'ances Texas became settled by an enterprising emigration. 
That compact between Mexico and the people of Texas, which was 
maintained with honor and good faith on their part, was violated 
and destroyed by the usurpation of Santa Anna ; and Mexico, after 
an arduous and doubtful struggle, was eventually subdued by a 
hireling soldiery. The States existing under the Constitution were 
annihilated, and a military despotism was established, with a mer- 
cenary dictator at its head. The civil authorities of Mexico and 
Texas were suppressed by the bayonet, the citizens disarmed by 
decree, and an army of outlaAvs completed the work of desolation by 
an indiscriminate slaughter of the weak or resisting. 

" The Texans composed chiefly of the descendants of those whose 
blood wi'ote the undying record of their patriotism in our revolution, 
and imbued with the love of liberty, at length determined to fall 
gloriously upon the field, or to vindicate their privileges as freemen 
by the overthrow of their oppressors. 

" The civilized world which watched for the result of a contest in 
which a handful of half-armed and unprovided men stimulated by 
the cause of freedom marched against the hosts of a well-organized 
army, knows how valiantly they fought, and how nobly they con- 
quered — how the Mexican soldiery were driven and defeated and the 
sanguinary tyrant himself hurled from command, and forced into 
captivity, the prisoner at war of a people whom, by injustice and 
oppression, he had impelled into revolution, and whose country, 
from a dependent colony, was thenceforward transformed into a 
republican government. After acknowledging the independence of 
Texas by solemn stipulations, Santa Anna was released ; and from 
the memorable battle of San Jacinto to this time, Mexico has not 
only been unable to re-subjugate Texas, but she has failed to keep 
up even the semblance of war, unless predatory excursions, led on 
by some brigand chief or outrages perpetrated with Indian alliance, 
are to be regarded as such by the enlightened sentiment of man- 
kind. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 67 

" Texas having continued to maintain her position, England, 
France, and Holland subsequently recognized her independence, and 
she now exercises all the rights of sovereignty over her own people 
and territory as fully and perfectly as any other nation of the world. 
Thus it will have been observed, that as Mexico gained her independ- 
ence and territory by one revolution so did Texas hers by another ; 
that the cases are appositely analogous, and the application of the 
law of nations precisely identical. These principles have been long 
recognized by Mexico and our own country, and an exception cannot 
now be demanded in the settled policy of the code of nations, in 
reference to the annexation of Texas. 

'* That a sovereignty may cede the whole or a part of its teiTitory 
is an admitted principle among nations, unless there be some 
restraining constitutional interdiction. In the case of Texas there 
exists no such limitation and she holds an equal and legitimate 
right to dispose of the soil within her jurisdiction, as did France in 
the sale of Louisiana, or Spain in the cession of Florida, or, to come 
down within our fresh recollection, as did England in the treaty of 
1842, by which territory was annexed to the states of Vermont and 
New York. The great principle here contended for was sanctioned 
by Mr. Adams in 1825 and 1827, and by Gen. Jackson two years 
afterwards when they attempted negotiations for the cession of 
Texas while she was an integral part of the Mexican confederacy. 

" Texas, then being independent and sovereign, and so considered 
and recognized by the first powers of the earth, our title to the 
whole or pai-t of any territory that she might siirrender woiild be 
valid and unquestionable, for sovereignty is co-extensive with juris- 
diction. Six years ago, this question of annexation was submitted 
directly to the people of Texas ; who, with one voice, from the 
Sabine to the wild wastes beyond the Rio del Norte, proclaim for a 
union with this republic. With this fact befoi-e us, recorded in the 
archives of Texas, who is there bold enough to argue tliat France 
and Spain may transfer their colonies and people without their con- 
sent, and we receive them, and that Texas, with a sovereignty as 
well established and acknowledged, has no power to dispose of her 
territory with the tmanimous assent of her citizens ? He must be a 
nice casuist who runs a distinction between these parallel exam- 
ples, attributing to one immunities that do not appertain to the 
others. 

''Next arises the question how is annexation to be effected; and 
my reply is, by treaty or by Act of Congress. As no sane man has 
attempted to disptite or deny the rights claimed by us as belonging 
to the treaty-making power, and as the effort to procure annexation 
by that method was defeated by the action of the Senate, no suffi- 
cient reason exists for its discussion. The mere consideration of the 
treaty, made by Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Henderson, by the proper 
branch of the legislature, was an admission and corroboration of the 
whole power that we demand. 

" In regard to the other point, the third section of the fourth 
article of the Constitution reads thus : 

" 'New States may be admitted by the Congress into the Union ; 



68 The Life of 

but no new States shall be formed or created within the jurisdiction 
of any other States ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two 
or more States or parts of States, without the consent of the legisla- 
tures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congi-ess.' 

"Such is the plain and intelligible language of the scriptures of 
American independence. New States may be admitted by the Con- 
gress into the Union and there is no limitation, expressed, derived, 
or understood, confining the structui'e of these States to territory 
then within the compass of the Union, nor could such have been the 
design of those who framed that instrument. By the old articles of 
confederation, express authority was given to Congress to admit 
Canada as a new State by her own consent, and the same authority 
was conferred upon Congress to admit all other new States not 
then belonging to the confederacy or to the territory of the Union, 
with this restriction only, that Canada might be admitted at once, 
but the consent of nine States were required for the admission of 
any other State. After the peace, efforts were made for the admis- 
sion of new States not included within the jui'isdiction of the United 
States. At the Convention in 1787, it was proposed to require the 
assent of more than a majority of the States to the admission of new 
States. 

" This was overruled, and the proposition of Mr. Eutledge, to con- 
fine the power of admitting new States to those ' lawfully consti- 
tuted or established within the limits of the United States ' was 
rejected, and the substitute of Governor Morris adopted, viz.: that 
' new States may be admitted by the Congress.' Thus it is appar- 
ent that the exercise of this power by Congress was not onlyAvell un- 
derstood before the adoption of the Constitution but that the section 
already quoted was framed with direct reference to the happening of 
such a reasonable contingency — one that had arisen even in the 
early days of the republic, and might well have been contemplated 
as likely to occur in the distant future, with the increase of popula- 
tion and the general advancement of the country. I do not consider 
it of any practical utility to discuss, at this late day, whether or not 
Texas was embraced in the Louisiana purchase. Jefferson, Madi- 
son, Monroe, and John Q. Adams are good enough authorities on 
that score ; and they have individually and collectively demon- 
strated the truth of this allegation. Proof of the fact will not 
effect the restoration of our riglits ; and an erroneous relinquish- 
ment in 1819 will hardly help the cause of annexation in 1845. A 
more serious objection has been urged at the North and East on 
account of the alleged extension of slavery, which, were it true, 
ought to command a firm and irreconcilable hostility to its adoption. 
But the degrees between philanthropy and fanaticism have, in 
these times, been so remarkably shortened, that one should be wary 
lest he trusts too much to the representations of the misguided, or 
allow his judgment to be warped by the ignorance of the enthusiast, 
or the prejudice of the bigot. 

" We may now say with some confidence, that the day has gone 
by when the equality of political interests, referring to the sectional 
institutions of the South, can be preserved in the Senate, and free 



Hon. William B. Maclay 69 

representation is annually increasing in the other branch of Con- 
gress. Therefore one may speak plainly on this point without the 
risk of offending the intelligence of the South, which must perceive 
and appreciate the correctness of the statement. However others 
may feel on this subject, I do not hesitate to say, that even were 
any incidental advantages to be obtained by the South, in the acqui- 
sition of this territory, such is my faith in its national importance, 
that no exertion on my part in its behalf would be diminished. It is 
a narrow-minded patriotism, that ranges within the circuit of our 
our own States, and can yield nothing for the advantage of another; 
and that political selfishness, whose horizon is bounded upon the 
one side or the other by every line dividing the welfare of the Union, 
should be deprecated and despised. 

" Since the purchase of Louisiana and Florida, and the settlement 
of Alabama and Mississippi there have been carried into this region, 
according to the last census, from the States of Delaware, Maryland, 
Virginia, and Kentucky, half a million of slaves and their offspring, 
that otherwise would not be within the limits of these States. Now 
it is admitted that annexation with Texas would double the rate of 
diminution, so that slavery under this system would disappear from 
Delaware in ten years, from Maryland in twenty, and be greatly 
reduced in Virginia and Kentucky, if not entirely extinguished by 
local legislation. The physical condition of the African race accords 
with a climate like that of Texas, nor would their moral and social 
improvement be diminished, but increased by the transfer. If phi- 
lanthropy is sincere in her profession for the welfare of this unfortu- 
nate people, let her not oppose the annexation of Texas. 

" So far as the consideration of interest is involved, this measure 
would contribute greatly to the increase of the commerce of New 
York and the Middle and Eastern States generally. In 1840, our 
exports to Texas reached a million and a quarter of dollars, consist- 
ing principally of products from agricultiu'e and manufactures most 
immediately connected with the industry and enterprise of the 
Empire State. Through the influence of commercial treaties entered 
into with other governments, between the years 1840 and 1843, our 
exports in the latter amount to one hundred and ninety thousand 
dollars, being a loss of over a million of dollars of trade annually for 
three years, nearly two-thirds of which was formerly transacted with 
New York. 

"A home market is said by all political economists to be the safest 
and most endm-ing. Would we insui-e that advantage to the manu- 
facturing interests and restore our commerce to its former condition, 
Texas must be annexed, when both would thrive and augment with 
the rapid growth of a country, among the richest in resources upon 
the face of the continent. 

"These are some of the reasons which have influenced me in 
regard to the annexation of Texas, and apart from the restilt of the 
late presidential canvass, which may be considered as committing 
the Democratic party to its support, I would have felt bound from 
what I know of the views of my own immediate constituents to aid 
in its accomplishment." 



TO The Life of 

In the war with Mexico Mr. Maclay was con- 
strained to stand by his country. He gave his vote 
and voice for men and money to prosecute that war 
to a sjDeedy termination ; and the result has demon- 
strated the wisdom of his conduct in this matter. 
The following extract from a letter which he wrote 
from Washington to his constituents, under date of 
Jan. 28, 1828, is a valuable contribution to the his- 
tory of that war, and a complete vindication of the 
part which he acted in relation to it : 

"In a few days after the adoption of the resolutions, annexing 
the republic of Texas to the United States, M. Almonte, the Mexi- 
can minister, addressed a letter to om- Secretary of State, character- 
izing the act as one of aggression, the most unjust that can be 
found recorded in the annals of modern history, and solemnly pro- 
tested, in the name of his Government, that the said law can in 
nowise invalidate the rights on which Mexico relies to recover the 
above mentioned province of Texas, of which she now sees herself 
unjustly despoiled, and that she will uphold and maintain these 
rights at all times, by every means which may be in her power. 

" He concluded by declaring his mission at an end, and demand- 
ing his passports. 

"Such was the ground taken by Mexico from the day of the 
annexation of Texas. We were charged with having despoiled her 
territory, and of having robbed her of her rights. Proclamations 
and manifestoes were scattered abroad with these denunciations, 
and with the declarations that she would employ arms to redress 
her imagined injuries. This just cause for war on om" part was not 
resented. With all these exasperating circumstances to excite 
hostilities, we preferred peace, and sought an amicable adjustment, 

" M. Almonte returned to Mexico, and our minister was officially 
notified that all diplomatic intercourse between the two govern- 
ments was terminated. Were all these demonstrations pacific? 
Did they threaten nothing? What more could a nation do to indi- 
cate a purpose of war ? Mexico immediately proceeded with exten- 
sive military preparations. She increased and organized her army, 
and insultingly avowed her destination to be the banks of the Rio 
del Norte, and its object the reconquest of Texas. 

"Still we forbore, until Texas, then on the eve of entering our 
confederacy, became alarmed at the thi'eatening movements of 
Mexico, and applied to the Government at Washington for sufficient 
force to protect her against invasion. It was under these circum- 
stances that General Taylor was ordered to Coi-pus Christi as a pre- 
cautionary measure. The Chief Executive would have failed in 
duty had he done less. I honor him, both for the sagacity and the 



Hon. William B. Maclay 71 

courage of the act. I need not recapitulate the subsequent events, 
of the march to the Eio Grande ; of the shedding of American blood 
upon American soil ; of the glorious victories that followed, and of 
the discovery after the battles of the 8th and 9th of May, 1846, of 
the original orders of the Mexican Government, directing their com- 
manding general to attack our army, bearing date at a time when 
it was impossible that the movements of General Taylor from Cor- 
pus Christi could have been known to the authorities of Mexico. 

"I have now established that Texas, as a department and as a 
republic, was entitled to and held the Kio del Norte as her bound- 
ary. If this be true, and I believe it cannot be successfully contro- 
verted, the whole argument of the opposition — that the march of 
General Taylor occasioned the war — is utterly fallacious and ab- 
surd. Had we not the right to march where we pleased on our own 
soil f This advance may have precipitated events, but who doubts, 
if General Taylor had remained at Corpus Christi, the same results 
would have followed "i The commander of the Mexican forces was 
ordered to attack our army, and he would have sought it wherever 
it was to be found, or else he would have failed in his obedience as 
a soldier. 

"Much stress has been laid upon the resolutions of annexation 
because they contained a clause subjecting to the adjustment of this 
Government all questions of boundary that may arise with other 
governments. This provision furnishes, in my judgment, the 
strongest evidence of the disposition of our Government to deal con- 
siderately and kindly with Mexico, and treat her with a degree of 
ceremony that would relieve all sensibility as to the annexation of 
Texas, by leaving the boundary open to negotiation, and by afford- 
ing her the opportvmity of a voluntary acquiescence in the recogni- 
tion of the Kio del Norte as the just and proper boundary of Texas. 
The country knows how indignantly and insultingly she repelled this 
friendly consideration, how she scorned the overture and assailed 
our motives. 

"It needed no question of boimdary or admission of Texas to 
have produced a state of war with Mexico, if such a desire had been 
entertained. From the first dawn of her independence down to a 
recent period she had received nothing but favor and friendship 
from the United States. Our people, almost in \'iolation of neu- 
trality, rushed to her standard when she shook off the Spanish yoke, 
and our Government was the first to introduce her into the family 
of nations. For all this we have received perfidy and ingratitude. 
Our sympathy and support have been requited with outrage and 
oppression upon our citizens, in violation of ti'eaty stipulations 
pro^dding for their * protection and perfect secm'ity.' 

" It would require a voluminous catalogue to enumerate the 
grievances and injuries suffered from that Government without 
resentment and hardly with complaint. So flagrant did these 
aggressions become at last that, in the opinion of President Jack- 
son, they could no longer be endured. In February, 1837, he pre- 
sented them to Congress, and declared, ' the length of time since 
some of the injuries have been committed, the repeated and una vail- 



72 The Life of 

ing applications for redress, the wanton character of some of the 
outrages upon the property and persons of our citizens, upon the 
officers and flag of the United States, independent of the recent 
insults to this Government and people, by the late extraordinary 
Mexican minister, would justify in the eyes of all nations immediate 
war.' 

"But guided by forbearance, he recommended reprisals as a 
milder mode of redress. Congress concluded to make another effort 
before adopting this remedy. Mr. Van Buren again brought the 
subject to the attention of Congress, when a negotiation ensued, 
which after a year's delay, ended in the Convention of 1839. I need 
not say what occurred under that Convention. The unsatisfied 
claims and violated rights of many citizens of the United States 
supply the explanation. 

" Such is a meager outline of the events by which this war was 
brought about. No man who investigates impartially can fail to 
be convinced that it was made by the deliberate design of Mexico, 
manifested in the withdrawal of her minister, her military prepara- 
tions, the march of her army to the Rio del Norte, and the shedding 
of the blood of our soldiers. 

' ' ' But take the very worst view that partisan hostility can suggest, 
is it less our duty to support the war, now that it has become na- 
tional ? ' to use the language of Mr. Clay. Is not the integrity of the 
nation, and the honor of every citizen, concerned in bringing it to a 
termination that will reflect luster upon our arms? Can this great 
object be achieved by withdrawing our ti'oops without a treaty of 
peace, or assuming a line that would subject us to incessant hostili- 
ties, to the maintenance of a standing army, and to incursions of a 
dangerous and formidable character? I think not. Peace is the 
purpose of the Government, and the wish of the country, and there 
is but one way — hard though it be of attaining it — and that is to 
push the war until a treaty is ratified. Any other course would lead 
to an indefinite war, of which we have seen the beginning, and 
generations unborn might never see the end. 

"Under these considerations I shall feel it to be my duty to 
strengthen the arm of the Executive, by voting all the supplies of 
men and money he has required ; because I believe it to be the triie 
mode of sustaining my country in this hour of necessity. We have 
had fearful warnings of the danger of extending our dominions, and 
of acqiiiring territory from Mexico. Rome and the ancient Repub- 
lics have been cited as examples for our admonition, because they 
fell from the super-incumbrance of their weight. The illustration 
is unfortunate. What principle in common was there between the 
institutions of Rome and those of this Republic? Was there a 
written Constitution ? Had they limitations of power ? Was each 
department of the Government a check upon the other ? Were her 
people the descendants of those who achieved liberty by their blood, — 
or rather, were they not the offscourings of the earth, who sought 
refuge in Rome, and afterwards carried conquest abroad for selfish 
aggrandizement? This apprehension of extending our laws and 
institutions over a new country has been the scarecrow of one 



Hon. William B. Maclay 73 

party for half a eentiiry. There was to be an incurable crisis when 
Loixisiana was ptirchased ; nothing short of ruin when " Florida 
was ceded ; and immediate dissolution when Texas was annexed. 
Thank God ! we have survived all these shocks, and this glorious 
Union of ours, with its brilliant firmament of thirty stars (for 
Iowa and Wisconsin maybe called sisters in confederacy), is this 
day more compact and cemented, than sixty years ago, when it 
numbered but the ' Old Thirteen.' 

"I am a believer in that destiny which contemplates the spread 
and success of free government over the face of this continent. 
There is a sympathy, a magnetic chai*m in republican institutions, 
which, once kindled, spreads with the stride of electricity. Our 
revolution, more than any other cause, contributed to the events of 
'98 in France, and oiu- onward march and miraculous achievements 
in the arts and sciences, in manufactures, and in all that makes a 
people happy and prosperous, have attracted to us the eyes of the 
civilized world, and made to tremble thi-ones that have stood the 
test of ages. Mexico in making the election of this war, has has- 
tened the work which inevitable destiny would have some day accom- 
plished. It may be well for her it cannot injure us. Her indistinct 
idea of freedom may become enlightened under the wholesome 
restraint of our system, and may enable us to carry on the great 
works until our standard shall wave in peaceful triumph over a free 
and happy people, with equal laws and equal rights." 



It lias long been a question of momentous interest, 
on which the most sagacious and patriotic statesmen 
have held diverse, conflicting opinions, whether the 
prevailing policy of our Government, regarding the 
disposition of public lands, is the best that could be 
devised for the prosperity of this country, Mr, 
Maclay always maintained, that, these lands should 
not be held by the Government for sale, subject to 
the freaks and fortunes of private speculation, but 
should be gratuitously conveyed to actual settlers 
thereon ; each settler being endowed with such por- 
tion, within reasonable limits, as he or she might 
wish to cultivate and improve, for the purpose of a 
family homestead. He considered the benefits of 
such a policy paramount to the largest net revenue, 

6 



74 The Life of 

that could be realized from the sale of this public 
domain ; and far more certain than any public good, 
that politicians propose to attain, by donating these 
lands to private corporations, for the ostensible 
purpose of internal improvements to the country. 
The following extract, taken from a letter, which 
Mr. Maclay wrote fi'om Washington to a political 
Association in New York, in 1848, contains a brief, 
but clear and forcible statement of his views, on 
this subject, at that time — views which have lost 
nothing by the lapse of years : 

"Within the lifetime of many who are now alive, our country 
will have a population of one hvmdred millions ; and this, too, by 
immigration and natui'al increase, and without reference being had 
to any future extension of the boundaries of our territory. With 
this lapse of time will come increased intelligence, and facilities 
for inter-communication. Now, imagine such a population organ- 
ized into a great landed democracy, each man, who desired it, sit- 
ting under his own vine and fig tree, upon his own freehold ! What 
diminution of crime ! what increase of wealth ! what diffused intel- 
gence, would then be exhibited ? Such a country could behold with 
sympathy, but without apprehension, the social convulsions of other 
lands ; and, in a military point of view, would be in^dncible to a 
world in arms. We wonder at the feeble resistance made by the 
Roman Empire to the barbarians of the North, who, under the 
command of him who has been, not inaptly, termed the ' Scourge of 
God,' threw down the fabric of its power. Our wonder ceases when 
the historian tells us that all Italy and Africa was in the hands of 
seventeen hundred great families, who cultivated the lauds, thus 
monopolized, by slaves. Why should we expect the Roman of that 
day to fight ? He had nothing to fight for. May we profit by such 
an example ! 

"In all that constitutes a free government, this country has been 
justly regarded as in the vanguard of every other ; but even here, when 
all power is in the hands of, and emanates from, the people, the 
prejudices which we have inherited from our anti-democratic an- 
cestors still exist ; and there are not wanting those, who ignorantly 
stigmatize as agrarian and disorganizing, doctrines which are in 
consonance with the whole spirit of our Government, and which must 
ultimately be engrafted upon the policy of the nation, from a regard 
to the well-being of its citizens, and the perpetuity of free institu- 
tions. The truth is, we are behind many other nations in the appli- 
cation of our political power to social reform ; and in much that 



Hon. William B. Maclay ' 75 

relates to land gratuities, occupancy, and limitation. During the 
present week I have received a communication, in reply to a letter 
which I addressed to him, from General Pedro A. Herran, Minister 
Plenipotentiary from New Granada, now residing in this city, and 
who was formerly President of that Eepublic. Under that Govern- 
ment every settler is allowed as much land as he chooses to culti- 
vate for himself and family; is protected in the exercise of his 
religious faith, whatever that may be ; is exempted fi-om all taxa- 
tion for twenty years ; is freed from every species of military 
service ; is repaid \>\ the Government for the expenses inciuTed in 
his emigration to New Granada ; and is admitted from the moment 
he occupies the land, to all the rights and immunities of any of its 
citizens." 

The principle of Mr. Maclay' s doctrine, in regard 
to the proj)er disposal of our public lands, though 
not yet applied in practice, to the full extent of his 
idea, has been distinctly recognized by Congress in 
the enactment of a homestead law, by which por- 
tions of these lands may be gratuitously conveyed 
to actual settlers, while other portions are sold, 
without limit, at a fixed Government price, to any 
one, who may wish to purchase for speculation or 
any other legitimate purpose. And the recognition 
of this fundamental principle, sanctions the doctrine 
which it underlies. Just as really, as if the Govern- 
ment had already adopted the exclusive policy of 
gratuitously distributing all the public lands to 
actual settlers ; and completely exempts the advo- 
cates of that doctrine from all suspicion of political 
heresy, and from any supposed affinity for the 
noxious elements of agrarianism. There are, in- 
deed, some significant phenomena in the political 
horoscope of our times, which plainly point to the 
adoption of something like the doctrine of Mr. 
Maclay, as the settled, exclusive policy of the Gov- 
ernment, in the disposal of our public lands. 



76 The Life of 

When Kansas applied for admission into the 
Union, as a State nnder the Lecompton Constitu- 
tion, she met with violent opposition ; which gave 
rise to questions, the most exciting, perhaiDs, that 
ever divided public opinion, in this country. The 
subject was discussed in Congress, and elsewhere 
throughout the country, with distinguished ability, 
and no little acrimony, on both sides, Mr. Maclay 
gave his views, on the question at issue, in a letter 
to his constituents, which was published in a lead- 
ing journal of New York, and called forth a con- 
gratulatory note from the late Richard Adams 
Locke, who says : 

" Accept my hearty congratulations on the character and inevita- 
bly happy influence of your letter in The New York Herald of this 
morning. It is the clearest expression of the new Kansas issue, 
that, I have met with, and. achieves the difficult point of being 
directly practical, without any compromise of principle. I have 
heard it spoken of by a number of judicious persons in the city 
to-day, not only with emphatic approbation, but sincere enthusiasm." 

Of all the political papers left by Mr. Maclay, 
this letter, on the "Kansas issue," is a master- 
piece. The author's views are manifestly consist- 
ent, plainly stated, and well sustained throughout. 
His facts are indisputable ; his reasoning commends 
itself to the common sense of every candid mind ; 
and his argument is unanswerable. But to be 
fairly and fully appreciated, this paper must be 
read entire ; no mere extract would do justice to 
the subject or the author. For this reason no part 
of it will be given here ; it may appear hereafter in 
a complete collection of the author's writings. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 77 

Mr. Maclay was among the foremost in the first 
successful movement for the reduction of letter 
postage in this country. And as the results of that 
movement have annihilated the objections of those 
who opposed it, and demonstrated the wisdom of 
those by whose forecast and jjublic spirit, it was 
projected, it is but just to the memory of the latter, 
that the facts of the case should be brought out in 
this record ; as it indicates in them those qualities 
of "far-seeing statesmen," whose consideration is 
essential to a proper estimate of their worth. How 
was it possible for any one to see beforehand the 
feasibility of maintaining onr postal system, as a 
self supporting institution, unless he could look into 
the future, with something like j)rophetic foresight, 
and comprehend the wonderful adaptations of such 
a system to the wants of this intelligent nation, in 
the vast extent of its territory, with the immense 
number of its present and prospective population. 

The specific rates of jDostage, which have been, 
from time to time, established by law, with the 
changes made therein, mostly within the memory 
of middle-aged men now living, constitute a curious 
feature in the political history of this country. 
When these rates were first established by Act of 
Congress in 1792, the minimum charge was eight 
cents, the maximum, twenty-five ; and, although the 
law underwent some changes in 1799, 1810, 1816, 
and 1825, these changes related chiefly to distances, 
leaving the rates unaltered. It was not till March 
3, 1845, that, the day of cheap postage dawned 



7S The Life of 

upon tins country. The old rates, as they stood 
prior to this Act, were as follows : On a single 
letter composed of one piece of paper, for any 
distance not exceeding thirty miles, six and a 
quarter cents ; over thirty and not exceeding eighty, 
ten cents ; over eighty and not exceeding one hun- 
dred and fifty, twelve and a half cents ; over one 
hundred and fifty and not exceeding four hundred, 
eighteen and three-fourths cents ; over four hun- 
dred, twenty-five cents. A letter composed of two 
pieces of paper, douhle these rates ; three pieces, 
trifple ; four pieces, quadruple. One or more pieces 
of paper, mailed as a letter, and weighing one 
ounce, quadrwple ; and at the same rate should the 
weight be greater. 

Mr. Maclay proposed to have these rates reduced 
to three., five., and ten cents ; that is, for any dis- 
tance not exceeding thirty miles, three cents ; over 
thirty and not exceeding four hundred, ^»e ce/i^*/ 
over four hundred, ten cents. And, in a corre- 
spondence with a Committee of the Merchants' 
Exchange of the City of New York, he demon- 
strated the feasibility and desirableness of such 
reduction. His letters, on this subject, were con- 
solidated and published in HunV s Merchants' Mag- 
azine iov'M.SiVQh, 1844 ; and afterwards, in a separate 
pamphlet to supply a special demand. And on the 
third of March, 1845, the rates were reduced, by Act 
of Congress, to five and ten cents ; that is, for any 
distance not exceeding three hundred mW^s^ five 
cents ; for any greater distance, ten cents. In 1851 



Hon. William B. Maclay 79 

the rates were again reduced to three and six cents ; 
that is, for any distance not exceeding three thou- 
sand miles, three cents ; for any greater distance 
six cents. In 1855 the higher rate was raised from 
six to ten cents. In 1863 the higher rate was abol- 
ished ; leaving the postage on a single letter, weigh- 
ing not over half an ounce, at one uniform rate of 
three cents for any distance within the United 
States. And in 1883 this rate was reduced to two 
cents. 

Thus, the reduction of letter postage, in this 
country, beginning with the Act of 1845, of which 
Mr. Maclay was one of the chief originators, has 
been brought down from a maximum rate of twenty- 
five cents to the uniform rate of tioo cents. And 
good judges calculate, that, our Post-office Depart- 
ment will be ultimately self-supporting, even at 
this low rate. 

It is proverbially true, that, the bountiful pro- 
visions of nature, even to the necessaries of life, are 
lightly appreciated, by reason of their common- 
ness ; and this may be the case in the provisions of 
civil society, as the proverb, " Blessings brighten 
as they take their flight," seems to imply. Yet, 
I am satisfied, that, no intelligent citizen of the 
United States, can be ignorant or unobservant of 
the fact, that, the post-office is one of the most 
beneficial institutions of our Government ; and that, 
to the people of this country, this reduction in the 
rates of postage, is a blessing beyond all computa- 
tion. Why, if this blessing could be estimated 



80 The Life of 

according to the number of its beneficiaries, and 
the extent of its benefits, it might be counted 
worthy of record among the grandest achievements 
of the most illustrious statesman ; and so long as 
there is a nation of freemen, in this land of liberty, 
worthy of such a heritage, I am persuaded, there 
will be a grateful remembrance of him, who shared 
the honor of its bestowment. 

There is yet another transaction, in Mr. Maclay's 
Congressional career, which must not be omitted in 
this sketch ; it exhibits so happily in beautiful 
combination, a nice appreciation of the meritorious 
conduct of individual patriots, and a high sense of 
the honor and glory of the nation, whose patriotic 
founders are gratefully remembered and generously 
compensated, for their services and sacrifices in 
their country's cause. I refer to the bill, which 
Mr. Maclay introduced and piloted to its final pas- 
sage in Congress, for the relief of the heirs of John 
Paul Jones. 

Jones was a native of Scotland, a son of Paul, 
gardener to the Earl of Selkirk. When twelve 
years old he was apprenticed to a merchant of 
Whitehaven, who was engaged in the American 
trade. Upon the termination of this apprentice- 
ship, he took up his residence in Virginia, where 
his brother was settled as a planter, and where he 
himself was living, when the American Colonies 
threw off their allegiance to Great Britain. Being 
fond of seafaring life, to which he was already 



Hon. William B. Maclay 81 

inured, and taking a deep interest in the cause of 
the colonies, with which he was now fully identified, 
Jones promptly volunteered his services, to organize 
and carry on operations, in their behalf, upon the 
water. His offer being accepted, he became at 
once the pioneer of all their marine forces, and the 
actual founder of the American navy ; being ap- 
pointed chief of the first lieutenants, in command of 
those brave cruisers, which struck terror into the 
monarch of the sea. On board the Alfred, in the 
Delaware, Jones with his own hands hoisted the 
first flag of freedom, that ever waved over American 
waters. With a single ship he kept the whole 
coast of Scotland, and a part of that of England, in a 
state of alarm ; and made a descent at Whitehaven, 
where he surprised and took two forts and thirty 
pieces of cannon, and set fire to the shipping. In 
another cruise along the same coast, with a squad- 
ron of seven sails, he encountered the British ships 
of war ; and with bravery worthy of a Nelson, he 
put them to flight, capturing the Serapis after a 
bloody and desperate engagement. Soon after this, 
by perQiission of Congress, Jones went on board 
the French fleet, where, though not so distinctively 
prominent, he was no less active and useful in the 
cause of his adopted country, and where he remained 
until a comj)lete victory was achieved for the colo- 
nies, by the acknowledgment of their independence ; 
which put a period to his naval career in the service 
of the United States. 
But besides his invaluable exploits on the sea, 



82 The Life of 

Jones' humane exertions in behalf of imprisoned 
American seamen, whom he delivered from Algerine 
bondage, not only commended him to the gratitude 
of the ransomed, but strengthened his claims upon 
the nation of freemen, whom his services and sacri- 
fices had helped to enfranchise. The last public 
act of Jones' life was heading a deputation of 
Americans, who appeared before the national Assem- 
bly of France, to offer their congratulations upon 
the glorious and salutary reform of their Govern- 
ment. His last days were spent in Paris ; and, 
strange to relate, in that city, where he had been so 
recently and signally honored, as a hero and patriot, 
he was suffered to sink into poverty, neglect, and 
ill health, until he died almost unobserved, at the 
age of forty-five years. 

As to the value of Jones' services, in the cause of 
the American Colonies, there never was but one 
opinion, among men qualified to estimate them. 
As long as he lived, he enjoyed the confidence and 
friendship of such men as Franklin, Adams, Morris, 
Jefferson, and Lafayette. His reception at Paris, 
whither he went on the invitation of Franklin, after 
caiDturing the SerajMS, was extremely flattering. The 
King presented him with a golden sword, bearing 
the inscription : Vindicati maris Ludovicus XVI 
remuneratur strenuo mndlcl. And the king asked 
permission of Congress to invest Jones with the 
military order of merit — an order never till then 
conferred upon any one, who had not borne arms 
under the commission of France. In 1781 Jones 



Hon. William B. Maclay 83 

underwent an examination before the United States 
Board of Admiralty in Philadelphia, which resulted 
greatly to his credit. That Board expressed the 
opinion, that, "the conduct of Paul Jones merits 
particular attention, and some distinguished mark 
of approbation from Congress.'' And Congress 
thereupon passed a resolution, complimenting his 
"zeal, prudence, and intrepidity"; and voted him 
a golden medal. General Washington wrote him 
a letter of congratulation. He was subsequently 
invited into the Russian service, with the rank 
of rear-admiral ; from which, by permission of Em- 
press Catharine, he at length retired with a pen- 
sion ; which, however, was never paid. Thus three 
different nations gave to Paul Jones, ungrudgingly 
and without stint, the gilded insignia of honor ; 
but the substantial recompense, which his services 
and unpaid advances more urgently demanded 
of the United States, was never rendered, until 
Jones himself and nearly all his next of kin, had 
passed away, and knew no more the wants of this 
world. 

At five different times between the years 1806 and 
1843 Jones' claim was presented to Congress ; but, 
owing to the absence of important papers, or to 
the neglect of those who had charge of the case, or 
to some other less honorable cause, that claim was 
conveniently put off, from time to time ; until Mr. 
Maclay, having been appointed chairman of the 
Committee on Naval Affairs, to which this matter 
was referred, took it up, and thoroughly examined 



84 The Life of 

tlie grounds on wliich it rested. The arcMves of 
the Government were carefully searched ; docu- 
ments of great value and deep interest, long unseen 
and forgotten, were brought forth, out of their dusty 
alcoves ; history was purged of popular falsehoods, 
and made to speak the language of truth and 
Justice ; the claims of the widow and the orphan 
were established ; and the memory of a patriotic 
hero, who could no longer speak for himself, was 
honored. The historian and the statesman, the 
navies of all nations, and the admirers of heroic 
deeds throughout the world, will henceforth honor 
the spirit that worked out, amid the dry details of 
a committee-room, the evidence, which showed the 
" Scotch Pirate" of Sir James Vorke to have been 
the Nelson of the American navy ; who, in one of the 
most terrific naval battles ever fought, left his name 
on the cliffs of England, and in the annals of the 
world, prominent and imperishable. 

And now, at last, the righteousness of that claim, 
which had been before repeatedly presented to 
Congress, but never before reported favorably, was 
finally passed on the last night of the last session of 
the Twenty-ninth Congress. The die was cast, as 
every one supposed. The friends of the bill were 
gratified beyond measure ; the hoj^e that had flour- 
ished and faded in the hearts of two generations, 
was about to be fulfilled ; and the long-unrequited 
services of a heroic patriot were to be compensated 
without further delay. But alas ! for the fickleness 



Hon. William B. Maclay 85 

of human fortune ! Rough, indeed, on this exulta- 
tion, was the cut of that okl saw : 

" There is many a slip 
'Tween the cup and the lip." 

When Mr, Maclay went to the capitol, the nQxi 
morning, he was surprised to find that the bill for 
the relief of the heirs of John Paul Jones was miss- 
ing ; and when it was found on the floor of the 
Senate Chamber without the President's signature, 
he was still more astonished and mortified. But 
the casualty or the crime, as the case may have 
been, was fatal. Congress had adjourned, and the 
President declared himself powerless in the matter ; 
so there was absolutely no immediate remedy. The 
labor, however, which had been performed in the 
case, was not all lost. It was made the ground of 
a similar bill, which was passed by a subsequent 
Congress ; so that, the object was finally accom- 
plished as completely as it could be after so much 
delay. 

This account is given not so much to fill up the 
measure of Mr. Maclay' s work in Congress, as to 
exhibit some leading traits of his character — his love 
of justice, his sense of honor, and his benevolence 
or " good- will to men." In this case he became 
satisfied, after a thorough, painstaking investiga- 
tion, that a long-standing debt was due from the 
United States to the heirs of John Paul Jones for 
money advanced and services rendered, under cir- 
cumstances of the most sacred consideration. And 



86 The Life of 

Ills shame for the Government' s delinquency in neg- 
lecting so long to pay this debt, mingled with his 
sympathy for the needy, neglected creditors, im- 
parted to him an earnestness and energy, that 
brooked no obstacle in the undertaking, and en- 
abled him to perform an inconceivable amount of 
labor, without the expectation of any more substan- 
tial gain to himself than the "answer of a good 
conscience" — the satisfaction of knowing and feel- 
ing, that, he had done a good work, that, he had 
contributed something to the honor of his country 
and the happiness of his fellow men. The spirit of 
the good Samaritan was an element of his nature. It 
was no isolated liber of silk, interwoven here and 
there to set off a coarser texture ; it was one of the 
unbroken threads, running through the length and 
breadth, and making up the warp and woof of tlie 
entire fabric of his life. Mr. Maclay had plenty of 
opportunities to make himself rich in this world's 
goods, but he had not the disposition to use them 
for that purpose. There were periods in his life, 
when he had abundance in his possession, or at 
his command, and he spent nothing in "riotous 
living"; but he often "cast his bread upon the 
waters." The prayer of Agur was his, and the 
answer to that prayer was his also ; he was " there- 
with content"; so that, he had not much silver 
and gold to give away ; but he had exhaustless 
stores of what was more precious, and more fruitful 
of good to both the recipient and the giver. And 
from this never-failing fountain flowed a loerjjetual 



Hon. William B. Maclay 87 

stream of benefactions, heart-bred and heart-cheer- 
ing. The greatest pleasure that he derived from his 
possessions was from the x^ower or opportunity, 
which they gave him to bestow benefits upon others. 
No other disciple of Christ ever realized in himself 
more fully than William B. Maclay did, the truth 
of those heavenly words of the Lord Jesus: "It 
is more blessed to give than to receive." 

Mr. Maclay' s career in Congress closed with his 
fifth term, having run through a period of nearly 
twenty years. His friends in the nominating con- 
vention of 1860, wished to put him again before the 
district for reelection ; but he had decided upon a 
project, which would make it necessary for him to 
be absent awhile from the country ; it might be for 
two years or more. He, therefore, requested them 
to withhold his name, which they did ; and he was 
never afterwards a candidate for that or any other 
public office. Once after that he was asked to 
accept a nomination for the mayoralty of the City 
of New York, at a time when the nomination would 
have insured his election ; but he respectfully de- 
clined the honor. He served the City of New York 
gratuitously as a trustee of the Brooklyn Bridge, 
when that structure was being built across the East 
River. With this exception he had nothing to do 
with public affairs during the last years of his life. 

Mr. Maclay' s standing with his constituents, and 
with the public at large, while in the legislatures of 
the State and nation, was uniformly good, and 
creditable to himself and the offices that he filled. 



88 The Life of 

The circumstances of his election in 1844, show the 
estimation in which he was held at that time. Just 
then a new political party, styled ' ' native Ameri- 
can," having really the growth of years, but appear- 
ing suddenly, armed and equipped, Minerva-like, 
came all at once into the arena, and swept the City 
of New York, like a whirlwind, electing thirteen 
members of the Legislature, and three members of 
Congress. In fact, the entire ticket elected was of 
that party, except William B. Maclay. He had de- 
nounced their doctrines, as inconsistent with the 
fundamental principles of our Government, and 
contrary to the spirit of our republican institutions ; 
as well as incompatible with our national unity. 
Yet, he was triumphantly elected ; while all the 
other nominees, on the Democratic ticket, were de- 
feated. Referring to this significant circumstance, 
the editor of the Daily Globe, under date of Nov. 
15, 1845, says : 

"Mr. Maclay has made himself acceptable to all portions of the 
Union, by his liberal principles, and by the candor and manliness of 
his conduct. Throughout his whole life he has been a consistent, 
laborious, and energetic Democrat; always ready to take any part, 
however humble, to elevate the cause. He is a man of most decided 
ability, and thoroughly versed in all the practices and forms of leg- 
islation. For three successive terms he was a representative of this 
city in the State Government, and was called thence three years 
ago to share in the national deliberations. On all occasions he has 
sustained liimself with honor and credit; and at no time has he ever 
flinched from the performance of any duty, demanded of him by his 
country. His reputation, as a citizen, ranks with the best in the 
land. His m-banity and other social virtues have given him a popu- 
larity, which has withstood the strongest combinations ever made 
in this city against any man." 

Again, when Mr. Maclay was nominated for 
reelection in 1858, the True Sun, congratulating 



Hon. William B. Maclay 89 

the Democratic party upon the unanimity that pre- 
vailed, and the reason of it, said : 

"The utmost harmony and good feeling marked all the proceed- 
ings of the Convention, and the nomination was made witlioiit one 
dissenting voice. This result has been generally anticipated, and 
we rejoice, that, it has been arrived at, with so much unanimity and 
cordiality. His services in the legislative councils of the nation are 
so well known and appreciated, that, it is almost unnecessary for us 
to add our congratiilations to the Democracy on this nomination. 
Mr. Maclay, in representing this district, has proved himself worthy 
of the continued confidence of the people, if close application to his 
official duties, ceaseless care over the interests committed to his 
charge, honorable bearing, talents, and attainments eminently fit- 
ting him to represent a district of the first commercial city of the 
new world, present any claims for the favor of freemen." 

These statements of the Globe and the Siin^ were 
simple facts without any exaggeration ; and they 
are substantiated, in that, Mr. Maclay' s popularity 
did not thereafter decline ; but rather increased 
with every successive term of Ms career in Con- 
gress. Upon his fifth election in 1858, the compli- 
ment of a public dinner was tendered to him by his 
constituents ; but this he respectfully declined, giv- 
ing his reasons therefor in a letter, from which I 
extract the following : 

"A public dinner is peculiarly appropriate in connection with 
persons of preeminent distinction, in the celebration of extraor- 
dinary achievements, and memorable events. And so long as it is 
confined to such occasions, it is in a high degree significant and 
honorary ; but such is not the case with us. The victory, which 
we have gained, is but one of an ordinary series, occurring at each 
successive canvass ; and the services of your representative have 
been only what every faithful servant of the public is, in such an 
ofBce, bound to perform. Under these circumstances, and for this 
reason, I must beg leave respectfully to decline the honor you have 
so kindly proposed to bestow." 

But the best possible evidence of Mr. Maclay' s 
popularity, at the close of his Congressional career, 

7 



90 The Life of 

appears in the testimony of his political opponents. 
When, in 1860, he declined to be a candidate for 
renomination, the leading Republican paper of Will- 
iamsburg (which then embraced a part of Mr. Mac- 
lay's district, and between which and the New York 
portion, there had always been more or less agita- 
tion and jealousy,) paid Mr. Maclay the highest 
comjDliment, in the following magnanimous conces- 
sion : 

" The declination of Mr. Maclay will be the best news, which the 
Republicans of this district, and also all those, who desire, irre- 
spective of party, to see a Williamsburg man in Congress, could 
wish to hear. Again and again we have labored to unite Williams- 
burg, irrespective of party, in demanding the election of one of its 
own residents; but so long as Mr. Maclay stood in the field, his 
popularity in New York gave him a majority there, which neutral- 
ized all that these four Wards could do, even when Democrats and 
Republicans stood side by side. Mr. Maclay, though we have uni- 
formly opposed his election, was a representative who conferred 
credit on this district. A man of hereditary eminence and abilities, 
an accomplished student, speaker, and writer, he is a very different 
person from those who have already signified their desii'e to step 
into his place." 

As a representative in Congress, Mr. Maclay was 
specially mindful of his constituents, and paid par- 
ticular attention to the interests of his district ; yet, 
he never allowed any merely personal or local con- 
cern, to interfere with his supreme allegiance to the 
general Government, and the country at large. He 
was never obsequiously ambitious of preferment ; but 
he was at different times appointed on the Commit- 
tee of Ways and Means, on the Committee of Naval 
Affairs, on the Patent Office Committee, and other 
important committees of the House ; in all of which, 
he was uniformly and universally respected, as an 



Hon. William B. Maclay 91 

active, eflBcient member. He was not a frequent 
speaker in the debates of the House ; yet, he had a 
happy faculty for stating his views, on any ques- 
tion, with remarkable clearness and condensation ; 
in his speeches no less than in his letters. He was 
conversant with many of the most distinguished 
statesmen of his day, and enjoyed the confideuce of 
all his associates, irrespective of their political dif- 
ferences. For, although he was a thorough, life- 
long Democrat, of the Jeffersonian school, yet, all 
his predilections for the Democratic party were sub- 
ordinate to the inspirations of a broader and loftier 
patriotism, and subservient to the common weal of 
the nation, united and indivisible. And, as, in 
private life, he was noted for his modesty ; so, in 
his intercourse with public men, he was admired for 
his sincere deference ; never arrogating to himself 
the credit, which was due to another; and spurning 
every temptation to take dishonorable advantage 
of a competitor, even when it was evident, that, by 
so doing he might win for himself the laurels of 
victory. No Christian ever exemplified more beau- 
tifully than William B. Maclay did, that always 
praised, but rarely practiced. Christian virtue of 
apostolic injunction : 

IN HOTSrOK PREFER ONE ANOTHER. 

Not that Mr. Maclay had one atom of that mor- 
bid self-abnegation, which is indifferent to a decent 
self-respect, or was free from all ambition. On the 



92 TTie Life of 

contrary, he was proud of liis own good name — 
his unsullied reputation — and spared nothing thai 
was right and honorable to keep it spotless. He 
was ambitious of success in all his undertakings, 
being always conscious that he meant to undertake 
nothing contrary to the will of God, or adverse to 
the well-being of his fellow men. But it does not 
ajDpear, that, he ever aimed to make himself con- 
spicuous for the sake of renown, much less, that, he 
ever sought to detract anything from the merits of 
another, in order to make or magnify his own fame. 

In the intervals of leisure or spare time, which 
occurred to Mr. Maclay, during his public career, 
he was frequently called on to speak or write, in 
behalf of various causes, which were deserving of 
a kind word and a helping hand. 

On his return home, at the close of the first ses- 
sion of the Twenty-ninth Congress, he was invited 
by the first and second regiments of volunteers of 
the State of New York, to present a sword to Lieu- 
tenant Charles F. Morris, who had distinguished 
himself in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de 
la Palma. Mr. Maclay accepted the invitation ; 
and the presentation took place at Castle Garden, 
in the presence of a numerous and enthusiastic 
audience. But the Lieutenant being prevented, by 
the detention of a public conveyance, from reach- 
ing New York in time for the meeting, his father, 
Thomas Morris, Esq., received the sword for his son. 
At the close of an able and eloquent address, in 
which he paid a merited and graceful compliment 



Hon. William B. Maclay 93 

to the regiments aforesaid, and justified the United 
States in the war with Mexico, Mr. Maclay speaks 
thus: 

" But three months ago Congress had passed an Act, authorizing 
the President to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers. 
Before the lapse of thirty days from the passage of that Act, two 
hundred thousand had offered their services ; and had not positive 
prohibition been issued, the sun would this day have gladdened our 
sight with half a million of freemen, citizen-soldiers, ready to meet 
the enemy. No civilized government on the face of the globe can 
furnish a parallel to this. Who is there within the sound of my 
voice, or abroad throughout this happy land, that did not exult at 
this splendid spectacle of the people fighting their own battles? 
Or who, that beheld the thousands and tens of thousands, at the 
first triumph of war, rushing to the scene of action, did not, in the 
fullness of his heart, extdt that he, too, was an American citizen ? 

" The brilliant triumphs of Philip and Alexander, of Caesar and Na- 
poleon, more imposing in array of numbers and results, would bear 
no comparison, in military skill, exalted patriotism, imdaunted 
prowess, and complete success to the battles of Palo Alto and 
Eesaca de la Palma. They stand alone in their glory, as memora- 
ble for justice as they had been marked for mercy. The clarion of 
war once silenced ; the roar of the cannon once hushed ; the smoke 
of the battle-field cleai'ed away; and our victorious banner waving 
from the ramparts ; the very soldiers, who had carried death into 
the opposing ranks, became messengers of consolation to the dying, 
and communicants of comfort and relief to their wounded enemies. 

"It would have been singular," said Mr. Maclay (turning to Mr. 
Morris), "if your son had been either absent from, or undistin- 
guished among that gallant throng. The name he bears, and the 
blood, that courses through his veins, were guarantees of his devo- 
tion to his country, in any struggle that might have occurred. In 
the darkest period of our Eevolutionary struggle, ' even when the 
thickest of war's tempest lowered,' your venerable father saw 
through the gloom of the then present, the light that irradiated the 
future. Never despairing for one moment of the ultimate success 
of the cause in which he was engaged, he raised, by the generous 
sacrifice of his means and his credit, the resoui-ces, which relieved 
our suffering and half -clad army, fighting amid universal despond- 
ency, the battle of freedom. 

" When peace retm-ned with her olive, and the Government, 
under which we have lived, and grown, and prospered, was organ- 
ized, in just appreciation of his services and ability. General 
Washington tendered to him the honorable post of Secretary of the 
Treasury, which, with characteristic modesty, he declined. Your 
son has proved himself not unworthy of such parentage. In the 
battle of the eighth of May he laid by his sword, and, taking the 
musket of a woimded man, joined in the fire of those, who were 



04 The Life of 

contending with the enemy. In the battle of the ninth, although 
wounded, he supported himself upon the arm of a surgeon; he 
responded to his brave commander, who had seized a Mexican 
standard, and called to his men to follow him in the charge upon 
the battery, through which the desperate charge of Captain May's 
dragoons had already broken. For this commendable service, for 
his zeal and fidelity as a soldier, for the thrill of pleasure, which he 
has sent to the bosom of his family and friends, for the honor he has 
conferred upon his native city, this testimonial, which I am now 
about to present to him, through you, has been selected as em- 
blematic of his merits. 

"Allow me, then, in the name and on behalf of the first and 
second regiments of volunteers of this State, to present to you, for 
him, this sword. And may the Dispenser of every good grant him a 
long life to wear it. His past conduct warrants it will be honored." 

In a letter to the committee, explaining the cause 
of his absence, dated Aug. 14, 1846, the day after 
this presentation, Lieutenant Morris speaks thus : 

"That my brother soldiers and fellow citizens should deem my 
conduct worthy the superb testimonial they have presented me, I 
must attribute to the generous feeling that would kindly overrate the 
services of a fellow citizen. For the flattering manner, in which it 
was conveyed by the Hon. Mr. Maclay, I owe that gentleman my 
warmest acknowledgments." 



On returning to the army Mr. Morris was made 
first lieutenant, and his regiment formed a part of 
General Worth's division ; and in his official re- 
port of the sanguinary battle of El Molino del Rey, 
Avhere Lieutenant Morris was fatally wounded. Gen- 
eral Worth mentions him as one of those most dis- 
tinguished for their gallantry. His early death was 
lamented by many, but by none more than by Mr. 
Maclay, who, on being invited to a public dinner, 
in Philadelphia, in honor of Col. Burnett, wrote the 
committee of arrangements an eloquent letter, from 
which I have made the following extract : 



Hon. William B. Maclay 95 

"Lieutenant Charles F. Morris was a grandson of Robert Morris 
of Revolutionary fame, who is justly cherished as one of the most 
distinguished of the many bright names, that adorn the annals of 
your State. 

"Well did he sustain the heritage of patriotism bequeathed to 
him. I knew him, esteemed him, loved him, and can scarcely real- 
ize, that, I shall see his face no more. It seems but yesterday, 
that, buoyant with hope, and panting for future distinction, with a 
heart, which was the home of com-age, as of filial piety, he turned 
his step towards Mexico, and as he bade his gray-haired parent, 
what to neither of them seemed an eternal farewell, he exclaimed, 
in the language and in the agony of Esau, ' Bless me, even me, oh 
my father.' 

" But why do I drag before you a sorrow so sacred ? ' That ark 
of grief, let me not touch presumptuous.' Let me rather call to 
remembrance the soldierly qualities, which made him beloved in 
life, lamented in death, and which have associated his name with 
the glory of his country. Like the brave Baxter he died young. 
But, as we have been wisely warned, the period allotted to our 
mortal existence is at most but a span, and he had already lived 
longer, and to nobler purposes, than many whose years have been 
protracted to extreme old age, but who have crept through life like 
some sullen stream to a marsh, without honor or observation. He met 
death — which must come to all — boldly, and in the discharge of duty ; 
with the dew and freshness of youth upon him, ere disease or sorrow 
had quenched his spirit. 

' ' While private affection weeps over his tomb with a chastened sor- 
row, a grateful country will cherish his memory, fragrant through 
coming years as incense poui-ed forth." 

In the winter of 1846 and '47, following that fruit- 
less season, when blasting mildew struck the fertile 
fields of old Ireland, knell upon knell heralded the 
doleful devastation of a wide-spread famine, and 
the Emerald Isle appealed to America for sympa- 
thy and succor. A great national meeting was 
held in the City of Washington, to give effect to 
this appeal, and to organize efforts for the relief of 
that famine-stricken people. The Vice-President 
of the United States presided ; Rev. Dr. Orville 
Dewey, of New York, read an elaborate report on 
the subject ; and prominent members of Congress 
addressed the meeting. Next to Daniel Webster, 



96 The Life of 

in the list of speakers on that occasion, came the 
Hon. William B. Maclay ; and these are some of 
the eloquent words, which he uttered : 

"Although laboring under great bodily indisposition, I have not 
felt at liberty to decline the request of the committee of arrange- 
ments, that I should address a few words to this meeting. The 
very appropriate and eloquent remarks of the distinguished geiitle- 
man from Massachusetts [Mr. Webster], and the report, read by 
Eev. Dr. Dewey, as well as the nature of the occasion itself, super- 
sede the necessity of saying more. The evil, which it was the 
object of this meeting to devise measures to alleviate, has been 
fully stated in the report. Alas ! no elaborate statements, no pain- 
ful enumeration of details is needed to describe it. It is summed 
up in that fearful announcement, which has struck terror to many 
a heart in this country ; that a civilized. Christian nation, eight 
months removed from the time of its harvest, is, at this very 
moment, suffering the pangs of hunger, and the horrors of famine. 
It is not for me to indulge in any idle speculation, as to whether 
the evil is political or social, or in what it had its origin. It is 
enough for me, and for you, and for every right-minded man in 
this country, to know that, such an evil exists. It is true, an 
ocean rolls its billows between us and the objects of this suffering ; 
but, as all its waters cannot wash away the obligation, which we 
are under to that unhappy island, so this barrier ought not to 
diminish oui" sympathies, or induce us to abate one jot or tittle of 
our exertions to relieve distresses so appalling. I am glad, that, in 
depicting these distresses, the report has alluded, also, to these 
obligations. 

" Let no future historian have it to say, that, America was indif- 
ferent to the present sufferings of Ireland. We owe her a deep debt 
of gratitude. Who can rightly appreciate how much of our pros- 
perity is attributable to the number of her sons, who have crossed 
the Atlantic, with their wives and children and household gods; 
who have held up an example, imitated by other nations ; who 
have built our cities, cultivated our waste domain, and become 
happily blended and incorporated into the great American family? 
Why, in point of capital (taking that word in its broadest sense); 
in point of commerce, interior and foreign ; in point of facilities 
for employing our commerce to the best advantage; in point of 
agriculture, and the subjugation of the soil to the rule of the hus- 
bandman, and the peopling of the deserted wastes of nature with 
crowds of cultivated life ; and, finally, in point of the increased 
population, wealth, and resources oi' the United States, we are 
indebted to no other cause, so much as to that of emigration, which, 
encoirraged at every period by the enlightened policy of our Govern- 
ment, has proceeded from every other country in the civilized world, 
but from none more largely than from Ireland. I am an American 
citizen — not by adoption ; I was born among the constituency, who 



Hon. William B. Maclay $7 

sent me to represent them in Congress. But, as I pass along the 
thoroughfare of my own native city, I see the monuments, that 
public gratitude has erected to conmiemorate the services, and to 
perpetuate to distant times the virtues of an Emmet and a Mont- 
gomery. 

" These are claims, inappreciable, I know, to some minds ; but they 
are claims, nevertheless, and strong ones, upon us. Yet, if it be 
possible, that, there are any present who cannot be influenced by 
considerations like these, since I cannot awaken your gratitude, 
I appeal to your humanity. Have you read the accounts brought 
over by the last steamer? Great God! Think of thousands upon 
thousands of starving men, willing, aye, anxious (Jiow anxious, 
I hope we may never know, ) to labor for their bread, yet without 
employment ; without any means of escaping from the misery, that 
surrounds them; but with the melancholy apprehension, that, it 
must sooner or later engulf them ! Think of whole families perish- 
ing of hunger! Think of manhood withered — struck down in its 
prime ! Do you, parents, love your own offspring ? And does not 
the heart of the poorest peasant, in the meanest clay cabin of Ire- 
land, beat as warmly towards his children ? Think, oh ! think of 
the 'mothers who, with eyes unwet,' glare o'er their perishing 
children. 

"If we can do anything to abate these horrors — to save our fel- 
low men and neighbors, from the pangs of starvation, we cannot, 
without guilt, pass by on the other side. The same Being, who, in 
the mysterious dispensations of Providence, allows destitution and 
misery to them, and allots plenty and happiness to us, has provided, 
against the greatest possible evils of this inequality, a sovereign anti- 
dote, in the law of human kindness and the logic of love. Speaking 
by his son, the Savior of men, and through his servant, our brother, 
He says : 

" ^ He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none ; 
and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Whoso hath this world^s 
goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of 
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him ?'" 



At an anniversary meeting of the Massachusetts 
Horticultural Society, in Faneuil Hall, Boston, when 
Webster, Everett, Gushing, Winthrop, and Quincy, 
were among the speakers, Mr. Maclay appeared 
quite at home in one of his happiest moods, and 
made a speech, which was greatly admired. The 
following extract, in which he pays a passing trib- 
ute to the floral department of the society, will give 



98 The Life of 

some idea of the scintillant features of that brilliant 
address : 

' ' Let him who will deny the utility (using that word in its narrowest 
sense) of one of the departments of horticulture; (to me the most 
delightful one ;) yet, even he will not deny, that, it furnishes auxilia- 
ries to virtue, hj substituting, for more exciting pleasures, a pure 
and rational employment. I never pass through the crowded streets 
of my native city, and behold a habitation, in which flowers are visi- 
ble, without feeling, that, however humble that habitation may be, 
there dwells beneath its roof something of taste, and refinement, 
and virtue. Who is here prepared to say, that, those delicate and 
fair creations of the Divine Benignity, are not designed, as they are 
most assuredly adapted, to awaken, in our bosoms, other and higher 
emotions than any, wfiich a mere perception of the beautiful has 
power to excite ? 'Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow !' 
is the injunction of that wisdom, which has connected moral senti- 
ments with natural objects ; so that, the student of nature may 
regard not only the forms, and coloring, and delicate pencilings 
which are the characteristics of these objects, but, also, the sensi- 
bilities, which they awaken, and the qualities of which they are 
expressive. Take the meanest flower, that scents the gale ; inhale 
its perfume, ' sweet as the breath of morn ' ; see its varied hues, which 
art may imitate, but cannot equal; observe the harmony pervading 
its whole formation ; mark the design, of which the most insignifi- 
cant portion of it, gives evidence ; call in your thoughts from the 
ordinary pursuits, and selfishness of life ; and, now, abandon your- 
selves, for a moment, to the images and the associations of inno- 
cence and purity, of which it is so lovely an emblem ; and how 
secretly, yet how surely, is the mind elevated from the gift to the 
Giver .'" 

This is no mere fancy of a refined speculation. 
It is an intelligent, experimental perception or dis- 
cernment of those mysterious affinities, that connect 
the sensitive and emotional constitution of the hu- 
man soul with the divine perfections of inanimate 
creations ; whereby the finite spirit is enabled to 
look through nature up to nature's God. 

From a glance at the public career of Mr. Maclay, 
which was, on the whole, exceedingly pleasant and 
prosperous, one might think, that, he made " the 
voyage of life," almost without a breath of adver- 



Hon. William B. Maclay 99 

sity. But, when we look more particularly into his 
private history, we meet with scenes of sadness, 
which show that he, too, in common with other 
favorite children of our Heavenly Father, was called 
to "pass under the rod." And there can be no 
doubt, that, this chastening was to him, as the 
refiner's fire, which separates the dross from the 
gold, and brings out more distinctly the qualities 
of the pure metal. 

On the twenty-second of August, 1838, Mr. Mac- 
lay was married, by his venerated father, to Miss 
Antoinette Walton, daughter of Mark Walton, Esq., 
merchant of New Orleans. Three children, two 
sons and one daughter, were the issues of that mar- 
riage. In the spring of 1849, at the close of his 
third term in Congress, he removed with his family 
to Mount Palatine, Illinois ; a new place, sparsely 
settled, with little or no improvements, though ex- 
ceedingly rich in natural resources. He had no 
more than pitched his tent, in that paradise of the 
West, when the fell destroyer invaded his house- 
hold, and one flap of the wings of the angel of 
death, put out the most cheerful light of his dwell- 
ing, and flung a shadow, black as the pall of mid- 
night, over the brightest attractions of his prairie 
home. That terrible malady, the cholera, was 
there, and with it came the ghastly archer, whose 
arrow loves a shining mark. Before his fatal dart, 
that fair wife and fond mother, the central figure of 
that happy family, in the full, unfeded bloom of 
womanhood, was the first to fall. It was death in 
L.ofC. 



100 The Life of 

tlie midst of life ; and so unlike natural death ! tlie 
change, so sudden ! the shock, so great ! She seemed 
to die in the full vigor of every vital organ, with but 
the briefest monition of approaching dissolution. 
Yesterday she was the picture of health, in the 
midst of her family, the light and life of the house- 
hold ; to-day she is numbered with the dead ; the 
immortal soul has departed this life, and the mortal 
body, the once beautiful casket that so lately held 
the imperishable jewel, is buried in the grave ! 

The following brief obituary, published in the 
Albany Evening Journal, accompanied by the pa- 
thetic words of her bereaved husband, is given here 
as an item of the family record, and a slight tribute 
to the memory of that dearly -loved and deeply- 
lamented wife and mother. 

Antoinette Walton Maclay was the wife of Hon William B. 
Maclay, of New York. Her husband had just finished a successful 
and honoring term of six years, as the representative of one of the 
Congressional Districts of New York City. He had turned away 
from the noise of the city to the quiet and calmness of rural existence, 
and with the kindly and lovely woman, who shared his lot and life, 
was on the new lands of Illinois. The life that was bound up in his 
— the eye that lost its light when turned from him — the heart that 
throbbed to his joy or sorrow with keenest pulsation— all this was 
hushed in the sleep of the grave, and the lip that but the evening 
before was busy with words of heart-born affection, was the next 
day silent, and thenceforth was to know no language but the still 
eloquence of the grave. The veil which properly is thrown over the 
happiness and sadness of private life, must not be drawn aside ; 
but the writer of this cannot forbear the revival of the memory of 
the fondness and affection which so distinguished this lady, her 
truthful, single-hearted devotion to her husband, and kindly dis- 
charge of all her duties. 

The stanzas which are affixed to this, were written by her hus- 
band. They are of that best and purest class of poetry, the charac- 
teristic of which, is as well truth, as exquisite language in all its 
mouldings. The h^rt and the intellect have written it, and I am 
sure it will be read with mingled sympathy and admiration : 





flNTOINETTE 05ALi'P0N GQAGLAY. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 101 



TO A PORTRAIT. 

Vain for me the artist strove 

On the canvas thus to trace — 
(Mute remembrancer of love, ) — 

The charm that lit that face. 

Could Art recall the happy hour, 

In thy svreet virgin prime, 
When first thou gav'st the meaning flower, 

Which told me thou wert mine ? 

Thy gentle bosom's rise and fall. 

The blush vfhich dyed thy cheek, 
In sweetest language told me all 

The symbol failed to speak. 

What pencil, dipt in hues of light. 

Could ever paint the joy, 
When, past the sorrows of the night, 

The mother prest her boy ? 

As when the promised bow appears 

In glory o'er the sky, 
She smiled upon it through her tears, 

And deemed an angel nigh. 

And Memnon to the morning beam. 

Which bade the earth rejoice. 
Poured forth of melody a stream 

Not sweeter than her voice — 

Her voice! (be still, oh, wearied heart!) 

When the last Spoiler came 
And touched her with his icy dart, 

Dying, she breathed my name. 

The wife of William B. Maclay was tlms prema- 
turely cut off in the midst of her days ; but she left 



102 Tlte Life of 

to her bereaved husband three darling children ; — 
living mementos of her undying love ; — the young- 
est a sweet little girl. With this broken circle, this 
grief- stricken group, Mr. Maclay came back to New 
York. A few fleeting days j^assed, after the mother's 
death ; and one morning the father went out, leav- 
ing his little daughter at home, apparently well, in 
all the blooming health and buoyant spirits of child- 
hood ; at noon he came in, and found liei' writhing 
in the agonies of death. It was another case of 
cholera; the child's sufferings were dreadful, but 
her straggles were soon over ; and the light of her 
life on earth went out, as flits the last spark from 
the snuff of a taper. The following lines written of 
her b}^ her twice-stricken father, and published in 
the Union, soon after her death, are doubly pre- 
cious ; in that, they grace the memory of the child, 
and evidence the father's faith in a future life, and 
his hope of a reunion with the departed loved ones 
in heaven : 

The bird up to the morning's ray 

Spread forth its wings of light, 
And pouring forth its matin lay, 

Passed from the aching sight. ^ 

The foam upon the river's wave 

A moment kissed the shore ; 
And finding there its dismal grave, 

Scattered its gems no more. 

Near where the vine its shadow weaves 

A day a rose was kept ; 
Alas ! upon its -wathered leaves 

The dews of evening wept. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 103 

Sweet child ! thus fair, thus brief the hour 

Thy life was given to me ; 
But wise, and good, the Sovereign Power 

That sets thy spirit free — 

To hear again a mother's voice, 

To mingle with the lights above, 
With radiant seraphs to rejoice, 

And taste more than a mother's love. 



In the Union appeared also the following stanzas 
from the same pen ; commemorating incidents and 
emotions, which the mind may recall, but which 
no words can express : 

Gently lay the lid aside ; 

Cease, cease, oh tolling bell ! 
Let me in the cofl&n hide 

The flowers she loved so well. 

They tremble in the unstirred air, 

Each bud and blossom shaken, 
As if their fragrant being were 

By rude winds rudely taken. 

A throbbing heart — how loud its throb ! — 
Gave to the flowers their motion : 

A sobbing voice — how choked its sob ! — 
Told of that heart's emotion. 

And dews fell thick on bud and leaf — 

The tears a father shed — 
Who, crushed beneath the second grief, 

Thus mourned his daughter dead. 

She loved me : not the wanton's love — 

Her guileless bosom knew 
No hollow smile, no bought caress. 

No mockery of the true. 



104 The Life of 

Nor yet the holier flame 

Which glows in woman's breast, 
Whose quickened heart a God hath touched, 

Its tenderness expressed. 

She loved me for myself alone — 

She could not love another ; 
And tenderer in her eyes it shone 

When she had missed her mother. 

Oh, Memory ! take her hand from mine, 

Her soft kiss from my brow, 
Pour Lethe* in this heart of thine, 

Not then more dark than now. 

Then there appeared in the Evening Mirror^ the 
following beautiful lines, written by Mr. Maolay, in 
relation to tlie same sad bereavement; describing 
an incident of his experience at Cape Ma}' : 

The crescent moon a path of light 

Formed on the Atlantic sea ; 
Where, in a vision of the night, 

My loved ones came to me. 

Serenely moved the starry throng, 

Through fields of silver blue ; 
Yet seemed they fading, one by one, 

From my enraptured view. 

And fainter in my ear the surf 
Moaned on the miunnming shore ; 

And Dian, o'er the illumined earth, 
Was seen by me no more. 

Then with my hair my baby play'd, 

And laughed to note my fear ; 
And lifted up my head, and bade 

Me see her mother near. 

* III mythology one of the rivers of Hell, whose waters the souls of the dead 
drank after they had been confined for a certain space in Tartarus. It had the 
power of making them forget whatever they liad done, seen, or heard before, 
as the name implies — Oblivion. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 105 

Yes ! Fancy did not me beguile ; 

Though I was sore amazed, 
No other wore so sweet a smile ; 

I knew it as I gazed. 

A shadow must have crossed my brow ; 
For tenderly she said : 
" I know what has perplexed you now ; 
You thought that we were dead. 

" Oh ! chase the idle fear away — 
Born of your troubled sleep ; 
No longer with you let it stay, 
Or I, perforce, must weep." 

Now, well might I have deemed this all 

The phantom of a dream, 
But for the music thus let fall, 

And that her face was seen. 

I kissed away the rising tear, 

I strained her to my breast, 
And as the joy exiled the fear, 

I sunk (how peacefully) to rest. 

The rosy light of morning broke ; 

More warm its blushing beam ; 
It fell upon my face, I woke — 

I wept. It was a dream ! 

Here, in what is called a dream or vision, Mr. 
Maclay appears to have had an interview with the 
departed spirits of his beloved wife and daughter. 
Whether that interview was real or imaginary, it 
would be unreasonable for any man to assert ; since 
no mortal knows of what stuff, or in what way, 
dreams and visions are made ; while it is more than 
possible, that, through such mediums disembodied 
spirits do sometimes hold communion with kindred 

8 



106 The Life of 

souls, that are still in the flesh. Besides, in this 
apparent interview, there is one feature, at least, in 
favor of its reality. There are some ideas here, 
which were never in the mind of this dreamer, be- 
fore, and which, when all the bodily senses were 
dormant, his imagination could hardly create anew, 
without the aid of some extraneous intelligence. 
For, although the imagination might by introspec- 
tion, even in a state of sleep or trance, reproduce, 
through the excitations of memory, sensations of 
sound and sight, which had been previously made 
upon the mind, (such as hearing the music of the 
voice, and seeing the smile of the face,) yet, it is 
difficult to conceive how the imagination, when cut 
off by the dormancy of the senses from all commu- 
nication with the external world, can originate ideas 
in the mind of a dreamer, which are normally at- 
tributable only to another intelligence. For exam- 
ple. Mr. Maclay says : 

— "in a vision of the night 
My loved ones came to me. 

" Then with my hair my baby play'd, 
And laughed to note my fear ; 
And lifted up my head, and bade 
Me see her mother near, 

— " tenderly she said : 
' I know what has perplexed you now ; 
You thought that we were dead. 

" ' Oh! chase the idle fear away — 
Born of your troubled sleep ; 
No longer with you let it stay, 
Or I, perforce, must weep.' " 



Hon. William B. Maclay 107 

Now, if, under existing circumstances, it was not 
in the province or power of imagination, to originate 
.these ideas in Mr. Maclay' s mind, (and I know of 
no principle in psychology, which warrants the be 
lief that it was,) then it may be presumed, that, this 
mind-picture represents more than " the baseless 
fabric of a vision," or the mere "phantom of a 
dream," and sets forth the actual interview of a 
soul in the flesh with the spirits of loved ones de- 
parted. But, however this may be, the x)icture of 
that interview, whether fact or fiction, is beautiful ; 
and its impression on the mind of Mr. Maclay, is 
worthy of a conspicuous place in this memorial. 

When this terrible desolation overtook Mr. Mac- 
lay, and broke up his hai)py family, he was only 
thirty-seven years of age ; and had been married 
but little more than ten years ; yet he never con- 
tracted a second marriage, but remained a widower, 
as long as he lived ; residing with his twin brother, 
and being a frequent visitor throughout a large cir- 
cle of attached friends, whose hearts and homes were 
always open to make him welcome. 

One of the most memorable events in the personal 
history of Mr. Maclay, was a hair-breadth escape 
from death, in the wreck of a railroad train, as he 
was returning from Washington by the Camden and 
Amboy route, near Burlington, New Jersey, Aug. 
29, 1855. 

The train consisted of five passenger cars, a baggage car, and loco- 
motive. It left Philadelphia at ten o'clock, a.m., and reached Bur- 
lington just before eleven o'clock. It stopped there from five to 



108 The Life of 

ten minutes, waiting for the eight o'clock New York train out of 
Jersey City, which was already over-due. And the New York train 
not appearing the Philadelphia train went forward slowly, watching 
for the approach of the downward train. It had gone forward 
about two miles, when the New York train came in sight. The 
whistle for the brakes and to reverse the engine, was blown, and the 
Philadelphia train commenced backing, and soon got under head- 
way for Bm-lington again. In this reverse movement, the passenger 
cars, usually placed behind and coming after the locomotive, were 
now in front, and pushed by the locomotive. The engineer being 
with the locomotive, of course had not the advantage of seeing what 
was ahead of the backward going train. He had run but a mile from 
Bm'lington, when the first passenger car came in collision with a 
light pleasure wagon, driven by Dr. Heinaken, of Columbus, N. J., 
who attempted to cross the track in front of the cars. 

The wagon contained besides Dr. Heinaken, his wife, his wife's 
father, and two children. The doctor had seen the cars pass as he 
was driving down the road, and supposed all safe. The first passen- 
ger car struck the two horses in the wagon, just as they were cross- 
ing the track, killed them instantly, and threw one thirty feet on one 
side of the track, and the other forty yards on the other side. The 
wagon was tm-ned round and upset, none of its inmates being in- 
jured, except in slight bruises. The front car, after striking the 
horses, ran forward, and off the track, about one hundred yards, and 
to a small embankment. The second car was thrown directly across 
the track. The third car went through the second car, and stopped 
diagonally across the road ; the fourth car followed and ran into the 
third car. The fifth passenger car and the baggage car stopped 
without leaving the track. The two latter were not injm-ed, but 
three of the other passenger cars were knocked to pieces, and many 
of their occupants were killed, wounded, and maimed, 

Mr. Maclay was in the second passenger car, where resulted the 
greatest loss of life and personal injury. His attention was attracted 
by the reversal of the engine and the rapidity with which the cars 
were backed. This was the first intimation he had of anything 
unusual. The idea of a collision he had not dreamt of, nor did he 
believe one passenger in ten had the slightest consciousness of the 
danger to which they had been exposed ; no indication, as far as he 
"was aware, had been previously made to the passengers of the 



Hon. William B. Maclay 109 

non-arrival of the train due from New York; there certainly was 
evidenced no general alarm. It occm-red to his mind that some- 
thing must be out of the way, and he got up from his seat and 
looked out to see if he could discover the cause of the retrograde 
movement ; immediately he heard a whistle and a reply, and saw 
that a train was on the track before them. This explained the 
cause of the train backing. He was fearfiil that they might run off 
the track or come in collision with the New York train, which was 
coming on. He therefore rose and left his seat, and had hardly 
stepped into the middle of the aisle when the collision occurred. He 
felt a jar, followed with an instantaneous buzzing and clashing of 
everything about him. He was thrown into the middle of the car 
and buried beneath the car, amid fi-agments of broken timber. He 
found himself jammed underneath, a terribly incumbent weight 
pressing upon his chest, and his legs and arms so closely pinioned 
it was an utter impossibility to move either of them. He did not 
dare to move or call for help for fear the sudden movement of the 
superincumbent wreck might render more precarious his position. 
The groans of the dying and wounded were most heart-rending. He 
was perfectly conscious of his own position, and in the event of 
any hurried attempt at rescue he greatly feared the mass above him 
might be let down with increased and crushing weight. Close by 
him lay pinioned a fellow-sufferer, who gave way to expressions of 
intensest agony and despair. He did his utmost to cheer and en- 
com-age him. He made no reply but by low moans. This man was 
taken out dead, and tm-ned out to be Mr. Ridgeway of Philadelphia. 
Mr. Maclay was the last person taken from the ruins. Col. Wall, of 
Burlington, said he heard a voice, but some one present replied that it 
could not be, as no one could live under such a weight of timber. A 
party in feeling about, by chance got hold of his hand, and said, '' It is 
afact; there is a man here, and he is alive, for his pulse beats." This 
was Dr. Gaunt, and an effort was at once made for the removal from 
beneath the car of Mr. Maclay. Mr. Maclay urged them to proceed 
with great caution, which was done, and resulted in his being taken 
out without suffering any additional material injury. Mr. Gavit, of 
Jersey City, was the first to recognize him, though his wound on his 
scalp was bleeding most profusely at the time. 

Mr. Maclay refused to be taken to the cars which were conveying 
the wounded to Philadelphia, but requested to be laid on his back. 



110 The Life of 

Some brandy was given him, and the fresh air revived him some- 
what, but he had no use of his limbs. He showed both great com- 
posure and self-denial. To the doctor who was dressing his wounds 
he said: "Leave me and attend to those whose cases are more 
urgent." And yet at this time his scalp was hanging over his ear, 
requiring subsequently nine sutures, and so crushed that he spoke 
with great difficulty. He was removed to the City Hotel. Every 
attention was paid to him. Bishop Doane requested that he might 
be removed to his house on a litter as soon as he was able to be car- 
ried. Thursday he was taken to the residence of Col. Wall, son of 
the late Garret D. Wall, long U. S. Senator from New Jersey. 

Mr. Maclay's condition was extremely critical. 
Besides the wound on his head, where the danger 
from erysipelas was imminent, he had three ribs 
broken, a paralysis of the limbs, and a terrible 
shock to the whole system, with symptoms of in- 
ternal injuries, the nature and extent of which could 
not be definitely ascertained. But everything, that 
human kindness and medical skill could suggest 
and provide, was done for him. Doctor Gaunt, of 
Burlington, assisted by Doctors Cook and McKilvey, 
of Bordentown, and Doctors Robert and Archibald 
Maclay and Stone, of New York, attended him 
with the greatest diligence, and one of his sisters 
watched over him constantly with the tenderest so- 
licitude and devotion. It is wonderful to think 
how near he came to death, and yet escaped with his 
life, and was apx)arently restored to his former pos- 
session of a sound mind in a sound body ; although 
it is not impossible, that, the ultimate cause of his 
death had some relation to the internal effects of that 
disaster. 

As the beauty of the rainbow is never seen with- 



Hon, William B. Maclay 111 

out a cloud in the sky, so the saddest scenes of 
life sometimes reveal the loveliest traits of human 
natuiT. As stars in the firmament are made visible 
by the darkness of night, so the characteristic vir- 
tues of good men are brought out most distinctly, 
and shine forth with greatest brilliancy, in the en- 
durafice of severe trials. Thus, in the darkest shades 
of this misfortune, the self-possession, discretion, 
composure, courage, fortitude, judgment, decision, 
self-denial, humaneness, sympathy, benevolence, 
and forbearance, which had been more or less mani- 
fest throughout the former life of Mr. Maclay, were 
made to appear with additional luster, in, and after 
this trial ; by the sufferings and dangers through 
which he passed ; as the fragrant flower gives out 
its sweetest perfume when crushed. 

Think of a man, with bleeding wounds, broken 
bones, scalped head, paralyzed limbs, and bruised 
body, buried beneath the debris of a rail-car wreck, 
uttering no groans, but coolly cautioning his res- 
cuers, and discreetly directing them how to pro- 
ceed, in order to remove him from under that mass 
of timbers, boards, glass, and iron, without addi- 
tional injury ! Really, I do not think there is one 
man in a thousand, who has the body and the mind 
to survive such an ordeal, and come out in the end 
safe and sound. Then, who can doubt that it was 
through his own superior judgment and courageous 
decision, in refusing to be carried back to Phila- 
delphia on the c!ars, immediately after being so 
crushed and mangled, that his life was saved ? 



112 The Life of 

But another trait of Mr. Maclay's character, which 
was most distinctly brought out, in this crucial test, 
was the spirit of self-sacrifice, breathed in these 
extraordinary words : "Leave me and go to those 
whose cases are more urgent" — words which Mr. 
Maclay addressed to the doctor, who was dressing 
his wounds. And he, who, under such circum- 
stances, speaks thus, from the heart, is no common 
man. It is true — and there is no libel in saying 
it — that, the generality of mankind are supremely 
selfish ; and no selfish man, being himself in need 
of attention, would use such language, however 
urgent the case of others might be. And in the 
utterance of Mr. Maclay there was no affectation. 
The i^eculiar circumstances, that surrounded him, at 
the time, were above the ordinary solemnities of an 
oath, and prove the sincerity of his words ; as the 
genuineness of gold is proved ; not by any super- 
ficial test, but by fire. These words are genuine 
expressions, or outward forms, of the innate jewels 
of the mind, and the heart ; more precious than all 
the diamonds, that ever adorned the persons of 
kings and queens on earth ; worthy to be set im- 
mortal in the fadeless wreath of virtue— the good 
man's diadem. 

Somewhat in the meridian of life, but more in its 
evening, as I have incidentally noticed already, 
Mr. Maclay had now and then a season of relaxa- 
tion from the exacting duties of his office, as a 
legislator ; but to him this was never an absolute 
otlum cum dlgnitate ; (for, he could not bear to be 



Hon. William B. Maclay 113 

idle;) it was sim})ly an elegant leisure, which, in 
the absence of- any special engagement, he industri- 
ously occupied, as a litterateur, in reading and 
writing, and literary conversations ; or, as an ama- 
teur, in studying, and enjoying the arts of music, 
painting, engraving, etc., and for the love of which, 
he finally retired, at an early period, from all par- 
ticipation in public affairs — illustrating the truth 
of that sage remark of Sir William Temple : 

"Where ambition and avarice have made no entrance, the desire 
of leisure is much more natural than of business and care." 

In these seasons of leisure, Mr. Maclay was a fre- 
quent and privileged visitor, in the offices and alcoves 
of our public libraries ; in the studios and galleries 
of the artist ; and, in the editorial sanctums of the 
secular, and the religious press. His literary contri- 
butions, remarkable for the variety and richness of 
the intelligence, with which they are fraught, have 
enriched and enlivened the columns of our period- 
icals, both popular and critical ; extending over a 
period of nearly half a century. For several years 
he was associate editor of the New York Chronicle, 
a religious journal, subsequently merged in the 
Examiner and Chronicle. During the later years 
of his life, and up to the very time of his death, he 
was, without exception, the ablest correspondent of 
the Baptist Weekly. His numerous articles in that 
journal, over the initial letter, "M.," would be no 
discredit to the most erudite and popular writer of 
the age. His review of the Anglo-American Re- 



114 The Life of 

vision of tlie New Testament, is the most thorough, 
and among the ablest, if not the very best, critique 
upon that work, which I have yet seen. 

The fact is, Mr. Maclay was not only well ed- 
ucated, and largely experienced in the practical 
duties of a statesman, bat his travels abroad, though 
not extensive, were well improved, and added much 
to the fruits of his studies and experience at home. 
For several years he spent his winters in the West In- 
dies, or in the South of Europe, and traveled more 
or less in various other parts of both hemispheres. 
And, by his discreet observation of men and things, 
and his careful research into the history of coun- 
tries, and the archives of natiims, with his habits of 
digesting and treasuring up useful knowledge, his 
mind was stored with the richest collection of orna- 
mental and practical intelligence ; enabling him to 
speak and write intelligently and instructively, with 
ease and elegance, on almost any subject, from the 
sublime revelations of philosophy and religion, or 
the profound studies of the arts and sciences, or the 
unsolved problems of statesmanship, to the plainer, 
common-place topics of commerce and agriculture. 

His unprejudiced, discriminating observations 
upon the drama, — paring off the excrescent carica- 
tures of fiction from the genuine characterizations 
of nature, and distinguishing the harmless and 
wholesome exhilarations of amusement, from the 
allurements of mere fascination, — while they con- 
cede the credit due to what is meritorious, make no 
compromise with the votaries of sinful pleasure. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 115 

His political writings embrace a great variety of 
topics, and relate chiefly to subjects of permanent 
interest ; involving principles of universal applica- 
tion, wherever matters of State are concerned. And, 
being the mature fruits of wisdom and experience, 
they are exceedingly interesting and valuable ; not 
only because they relate to important events in the 
political history of our country ; but, in that, they 
furnish a practical elucidation of some of the most 
important general principles and doctrines of polit- 
ical economy. 

His notes of travel are not made up from any 
common-place memoranda ; simply narrating and 
describing things, as they strike the mind of a 
superficial observer. But the i)lace of writing is 
made to suggest events and characters, connected 
with it, in the past or the present ; the discassion of 
which adds to the most fascinating delineations of 
topography, the more charming depictions of biog- 
raphy and history. Mr. Maclay' s writings of this 
class are somewhat extensive ; and, considered with 
respect to their adaptation for popular interest, and 
permanent value, they are not often, if ever, sur- 
passed by the most favorite works, in this depart- 
ment of our literature. 

Mr. Maclay was well versed in biography ; which 
he considered an essential, if not the most impor- 
tant, part of general history. And although he never 
wrote much of this kind, yet the sketch of his 
father, and the Life of Holland, show, that, he was 



116 The Life of 

qualified to write with the most accomplished au- 
thors in this dei)artment. 

In addition to his critique on the Anglo-American 
Revision, above mentioned, and some other elab- 
orate dissertations on different parts of the Sacred 
Scriptures, Mr. Maclay wrote a great deal on 
various themes pertaining to religion. And, in 
nearly all his religious writings, there is a marked 
jieculiarity. He was constitutionally diffident ; and, 
though conscious of his own sincere interest, and 
abiding faith in religion ; yet, the fact that, he was 
not a member of the Church, and had never made a 
profession of religion, restrained him somewhat, 
when he was writing on religious subjects ; as if 
he were presuming to teach others experimental 
truth, of which he himself had no experimental 
knowledge — truth, which no one can teach ex cathe- 
dra^ without personal experience. And this embar- 
rassment, added to his natural self-distrust, some- 
times imparted to Mr. Maclay' s religious writings 
an air of timidity. But, for all that, they are none 
the less valuable, but, if anything, rather more 
attractive ; since, we thereby know them to be, by 
so much, at least, free from the arrogance of con- 
ceit. 

The miscellaneous writings of Mr. Maclay, com- 
prising a large number of articles, on a great variety 
of topics, cannot be conveniently characterized here ; 
it is but just, however, to say, that, they are both 
entertaining and instructive ; and could not fail, if 
judiciously collected and j)ublished, to make an ac- 



Hon. William B. Maclay 117 

ceptable and useful book. I have no doubt that 
the entire works of this gifted writer, if brought out 
with the ordinary facilities, and enterprise of a good 
publishing house, would be, not only eminently 
useful, but highly remunerative. 

The comments heretofore made in this sketch, on 
the character of Mr. Maclay, as exemplified and 
illustrated in his life ; together with the observa- 
tions, made thereon, in the funeral discourse of Dr. 
Bridgman, and in the letters of condolence, follow- 
ing the obsequies ; leave nothing of imj^ortance to 
be added, on that subject, except what will be com- 
prised in a summary recapitulation. 

It has been shown in this sketch, that, William 
B. Maclay came of no degenerate stock. From his 
birth he was possessed of a sound physical consti- 
tution ; which, with good care, was well preserved ; 
and, barring accidents, afforded him the enjoyment 
of uniform bodily health. He had a symmetrical, 
well-balanced mind ; not remarkable for the \)vq- 
eminence of any one faculty ; but noted for the 
general excellence of the whole ; as duly propor- 
tioned, and admirably combined, for the practical 
purposes of life. 

He was an intelligent man, in the highest sense of 
that term ; not that, he knew more than any other 
man ; or that, he had more undigested details of 
knowledge, stowed away in his mind, than many 
others. But I mean to say, that, he was well- 
informed, generall}^ in all practical matters of 
every-day life ; and, that, more than this, his mind 



118 The Life of 

was stored with the elements of universal knowl- 
edge. In other words, he had the mental appara- 
tus for obtaining information, not already possessed, 
on any subject within the range of the human 
understanding ; well knowing how and when to 
use it. 

He was a conscientious man. His moral sense 
was as sensitive and true to the eternal standard 
of right and wrong, as the needle to the pole ; 
and the bond of a moral obligation was, to him, 
sacred as the tenure of his life. 

He was a faithful man. I do not believe that he 
ever betrayed a trust in his life ; treachery and 
fickleness were foreign to his nature, and found no 
]3lace in his actions. I am confident that he never 
forsook one, who was fortunate enough to gain his 
friendship, and not base enough to forfeit it. In 
forming alliances he was never hasty, but in general 
very considerate and cautious. And I do not know, 
indeed, that, he ever became alienated, or estranged, 
from any one, to whom he was once attached, either 
by the ties of consanguinity, or the affinities of any 
other relationship. 

He was a benevolent man, in the broadest sense 
of that term. Next to the glory of God, "good- 
will to men" was the highest prevailing impulse of 
his nature. In the spirit and heaven-born mission 
of his manger- cradled Master, "he went about do- 
ing good" ; assuaging the sorrows, and swelling the 
joys of suffering humanity. 

He was an unselfish and self-sacrificing man. It 



Hon. William B. Maclay 119 

was no uncommon thing for him to waive his right, 
and stej) aside from his position, in order that 
another might obtain, through his favor, the bene- 
fits, to which he alone was entitled. And I have 
known him curtail his own private exj)enses, which 
were always moderate, and deprive himself of com- 
mon comforts, with which he was never extrava- 
gantly surrounded, to help persons who had no claim 
on him but their necessities. Then, in the Burling- 
ton disaster, narrated above, when his precious life 
lay in the trembling balance, he said to the doctor, 
who was dressing his wounds : "Leave me, and go 
to those whose cases are more urgent." Dear man ! 
God knows, no life was more worthy to be saved, 
and no case could be more urgent, than his. But, 
in the sincerity of his heart, those words, which 
might have been his last utterance on earth, gave 
vent to that self-sacrificing spirit, which charac- 
terized his whole life. 

He was a forgiving man. To the best of men 
offenses will come, and with the offense there is 
woe ; not only to him, through whom the offense 
Cometh ; but to him, also, who, being offended, has 
no heart to forgive the penitent offender — to him, who 
cannot say that simple, sublime prayer of our Lord : 
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," 
without execrating himself ; simply because he never 
forgives those, wtio trespass against him. Bat Will- 
iam B. Maclay was not such a man. There was 
not a particle of implacableness in his nature. If 
he ever was so unfortunate as to get into a quarrel. 



120 The Life of 

or ill-will, with any one, I do not believe, tliat, he 
ever harbored a grudge ; for, so willing and ready- 
was he, to pardon any one, who had wronged him, 
that, he often went beyond the scriptural injunc- 
tion, and forgave the offender, so far, at least, as to 
overlook his offense, before he had any evidence of 
his repentance. 

He was a peace-maker. As he himself desired to 
be at peace with all around him, so he loved to see 
his fellow men living in harmony with one another ; 
and this spirit, being in accord with the general 
tenor of his mind and manners, made him an ad- 
mirable mediator. But much of the good work, 
which he performed, in this capacity, was done 
siib rosa, and cannot be recounted in this world ; 
and much of what we know, is of too private a 
nature, to be proclaimed upon the house-top. It is 
however, but just to say, that, as a practical peace- 
maker, Mr. Maclay was assiduous and successful. 
And, to give some idea of the gracious fruits of his 
unostentatious efforts in this field, I take the liberty 
of referring to a single instance, in which two city 
churches were for years at variance, and went to 
law with each other before the civil courts ; inter- 
rupting their fellowship, and giving rise to hostile 
feelings between their resj)ective memberships. In 
this instance, as I understand it, (and I may, per- 
haps, know more about it than the i3arties them- 
selves,) William B. Maclay was the quiet, gentle 
mediator, through whose conciliatory offices and 
influence this whole matter was amicably settled, 



Hon. William B. Maclay 121 

somewhat short of the extremity of a vexatious and 
imbittering litigation. And all who belong to the 
family of the Father in Heaven, and enjoy here the 
heaven-flavored fruits of iDeace, as a foretaste of the 
inheritance, that is incorruptible, and undefiled, 
and fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for them, 
must know how to appreciate and apply that divine 
beatitude of our Lord: "Blessed are the peace- 
makers ; for, they shall be called the children of 
God." 

Mr. Maclay was a gentleman, in the best sense of 
that term. His native quality, the natural endow- 
ments of his mind and heart, his mental culture and 
moral training, his learning and acquisitions of use- 
ful knowledge, his freedom from vicious habits, 
both in conduct and language, his refinement of 
taste and manners, his politeness and urbanity — 
always courteous to his superiors, affable to his 
inferiors, and civil to all — together with the noble 
deeds, that adorn his deportment, and redound to 
the honor of his country, the welfare of his race, 
and the glory of God ; all these go to make up the 
portraiture of a perfect gentleman, and give him a 
social iDosition in the highest walks of life, far above 
the groveling ways of those, who trudge in the vul- 
gar crowd. 

A gentleman, who was familiar with Mr. Maclay 
for more than half a century, assured me, that, he 
never heard one obscene or profane word from his 
lips ; and he, of whom this could be truthfully said, 
must have been uncommonly pure-minded and rev- 

9 



122 The Life of 

erential. One, who undertakes to be a rei^resenta- 
tive of the people, in a popular government, and is 
dependent on their suffrages for the tenure of his 
office, is very apt to fall into their ways and habits, 
and to shape his conduct after their mould; so 
that, instead of elevating his constituency up to his 
standard, he himself is brought down to their level. 
Then, he is sometimes, also, unavoidably associated 
with a grade of politicians, who are more or less 
beneath his own rank ; so that, if he is at all sus- 
ceptible to the influences of evil examples, he takes 
them in, as porous pajier absorbs the ink ; or, as 
a sponge imbibes the water ; and puts on hues of 
character, as the tree-frog, according to the fable, 
assumes the color of whatever object it comes in 
contact with ; or, as the chameleon, unfabled, suits 
its color to the circumstances that surround it. 
But, thank God, Mr. Maclay had no such suscepti- 
bility ; he happily escaped all these evils. As the 
genuine coin comes untarnished from the acid-test, 
so he emerged out of the corrupt, and corrupting 
associations of political life, unsmirched, without a 
spot. More than once he was in the fiery furnace 
of a political campaign, as a candidate for office, 
and came out of it every time, without so much as 
the smell of fire upon his garments. When he en- 
tered upon his public career he was a gentleman, 
without reproach ; in all the pursuits of his vo- 
cation, he never descended to the devious paths 
of a pot-house politician ; and, when he closed that 



Hon. William B. Maclay 123 

career, he was a gentleman still, and above re- 
proach. 

Again — I say it boldly, but without presump- 
tion — William B, Maclay was a Christian. He be- 
lieved the Bible, and revered it as a divine revela- 
tion. He acknowledged the sinfulness of men and 
the holiness of God. He admired the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who, as Mediator between God 
and men, obtained eternal redemption for us, and 
adored Him as the Savior of the world. He wor- 
shiped God in spirit and in truth. He honored the 
churches, and loved the brotherhood of Christians. 
He observed the Sabbath, respected the sanctuary, 
revered good ministers of Jesus Christ, and gave of 
his substance to maintain the ministry and ordi- 
nances of religion. It may be said, that, he was 
not a member of any church, and was never bap- 
tized ; which, I believe, is true, and is, I think, to 
be deeply regretted. But, in regard to this, there 
are two observations to be made. First : Mr. Mac- 
lay should not be charged with this delinquency 
(admitting it to be a delinquency), as if he alone 
was at fault ; since, it is possible, to say the least, 
that, if there had been more attractive and less 
rejiellent power in the lives of professed Christians, 
he might have been baptized long ago, and honored 
the Church more openly, with his name, and influ- 
ence, and good works. Second : If this delinquency 
were chargeable to him alone, without any mitiga- 
tion, it would not prove, that, he was not a Chris- 
tian ; since, baptism, and literal membership, in a 



124 Tlie Life of 

visible church on earth, do not constitute an absolute 
sine qua non, in the criterion of Christian character. 

So long as Mr. Maclay felt as a Christian, thought 
as a Christian, spoke and wrote as a Christian, and 
acted as a Christian, in respect to all the essential 
beliefs and practices of a religious life ; it would 
outrage the first principles of Christianity, and 
strike at the heart of all genuine piety, to deny his 
spiritual membership in the household of faith, and 
thus blank his name in the book of life ; simply 
because he lacked the outward badge of disciple- 
ship, and had no enrollment in the visible Church. 
As well — ay ! with more reason— might we doubt 
the nature of the rose in the garden, or of the rain- 
bow in the heavens, because no label hangs thereon, 
while, by tints and perfume, that nature is being 
certified to our senses, more clearly and surely than 
any language could declare it. 

Men in general are prone to extremes in all 
things ; and in nothing more than in their rela- 
tive contemplations, regarding the present and the 
future. Many are so exclusively engrossed with 
the present, that, they become extremely improvi- 
dent, and sometimes well-nigh thoughtless, of the 
future ; while others are so powerfully wrought 
upon, and completely carried away, by fearful 
apprehensions, or rapturous anticipations, of the 
future, that, they are unfitted for the proper appre- 
ciation, and the legitimate duties of the present. 
Between these extremes Mr. Maclay maintained, 
throughout his well-ordered life, the aurei mores 



Hon. William B. Maclay 125 

of an aiirea mediocritas ; avoiding alike the folly 
of worldly-mindedness, and the frenzy of religious 
fanaticism. 

The ambition and ardor of his youth were sensi- 
bly abated by the attemperments of advancing 
age, while the tests of observation and experience 
intensified his disgust with the bare frivolities of an 
ephemeral existence. He never ceased to appre- 
ciate and respect the most trifling of temporal 
things, whether practical or aesthetic, serviceable or 
ornamental ; provided, that, they were adapted to 
benefit mankind, and so to glorify God. But as 
the excitement of anticipations and entertainments, 
pertaining to this world, subsided into the sober 
reflections of past experience, the evanescent enjoy- 
ments of time were, in a measure, eclipsed by the 
loomings of eternity ; so that, he became more 
deeply and vividly impressed by the enduring re- 
alities, and the superlative importance, of a future 
life. 

On this subject Mr. Maclay was never very com- 
municative, even with his most intimate friends ; 
and hence some, judging without due consideration, 
may have inferred, that, he was correspondingly 
thoughtless. The fact, however, was otherwise ; 
he was really more thoughtful, on this subject, than 
most other men. But he was constitutionally diffi- 
dent, actually bashful, and more or less restrained 
by a delicate fear of appearing to be obtrusive ; 
then, as he had made no pretensions to personal 
piety, by a public profession of religion , his natural 



126 The Life of 

reserve was thereby enhanced almost to absolute 
reticence. There were, however, some occasions, 
on which he could not keep his light "under a 
bushel"; when the inwardness of his Christian 
character, the emotions of his heaven-born soul, and 
the aspirations of his God-given faith, would meekly 
but fearlessly burst forth into outward expressions, 
as beautiful in language, as in sentiment they were 
simple and sublime. Take, for example, his utter- 
ance upon the death of his daughter, following so 
quickly the decease of his wife ; where he speaks 
of the child as having gone 

" To hear again a mothei-'s voice, 
To mingle with the lights above ; 
With radiant seraphs to rejoice, 
And taste more than a mother's love." 

Then look at the following extract from a letter 
of condolence, which he wrote to his niece, on the 
death of her husband, the late John S. Williams, 
of the firm of Williams and Guion : 

"It was finely said of the Bible, by Boyle, that, 'there is such 
fullness in that book, that, oftentimes it says much by saying noth- 
ing ; and not only its expression, but its silences are teaching ; 
like a dial, in which the shadow, as well as the light, informs us.' 
Equally remarkable — and furnishing no slight internal evidence of 
its divine inspiration — is its clearer and more obvious instruction, 
especially as it relates to the brevity of life, and to a circumstance, 
of which we are solemnly warned, connected with its termination. 
Not without reason did the Romans place a slave in the chariot of 
liim to whom they decreed a triumph. For, it is most singular, 
that, notwithstanding our experience of the frequent instances of 
mortality around us, and the consciousness, that, there is nothing 
certain in our life but our death, that yet, whatever guise it may 



Hon. William B. Maclay 127 

assume, it always approaches us unexpectedly ; coming (to use the 
expressive language of scripture), ' like a thief in the night.' 

"But we are variously affected, according to the character of the 
individual upon whom the stroke has fallen. The public stock of 
virtue is diminished by the death of a good citizen, a fast friend, 
a wise counselor, a kind husband, an affectionate parent, a sincere 
Christian ; and Mr. Williams was estimable in all these various rela- 
tions. The community recognized their loss in their spontaneous 
and unusual public and private tributes to his memory, and in 

" ' The graced respect that claimed him to the last.' 

" Their loss was his gain, and this consideration ought to mitigate 
our selfish sorrow. I do not here refer to the gi»ief of a stricken 
household. Such sorrow is forever hallowed by the example of Him, 
who is the pattern of all praiseworthy imitation. He has so made 
us, that, our hearts are disquieted, even by a temporary absence from 
those whom we love. At the last separation, with bitter tears scarce 
dried, we indulge the hope, that, when our own course is run, we 
may rest together vsdth them. We shrink from the thought of being 
disunited even there, and that the sun may shine above our grave 
when clouds are dark on theirs. 

" ' A foolish thought, yet human, too. 
For love is not the soul's alone ; 
It winds around the form we woo — 
The mortal we have known.' 

"It may seem strange, that, I have delayed, until the close of this 
letter, any expi-ession of my sympathy with you in the occasion of 
it. None, however, is needed. You have a better consolation in 
the love of a numerous and affectionate family, with which a merci- 
ful God has blessed you. You have still spared to you a dear 
father and mother, toward whom your conduct has always appeared 
to me, not so much like an ordinary discharge of the duties involved 
in these relations, as a beautiful illustration of that religion, which 
can lend to every-day life something of its own sanctity ; and, above 
all, (Oh! bright expression of divine benevolence !) which can ena- 
ble us, even in affliction, to see, through blinding tears, the hand of 
a pitying Father, and to feel, in our weakness, the everlasting arms 
around us. If we could see as we are seen, and know as we are 



128 The Life of 

known, how many enigmas of cm* present state would cease to be mys- 
terious ! How strong would be our perception of those truths, now 
but feebly apprehended, although having their basis in divine reve- 
lation, and all the analogies of nature ! Your own soitow for the 
loved and lost might be absorbed in admiring love and gratitude at 
the discovery that what, to imperfect knowledge, appeared to be a 
calamity, was in reality a wrestling angel, a messenger of blessing, 
a link in the chain of the divine government, connecting the trials of 
time with the rewards of eternity ; and alike essential to his perfect 
happiness and your highest good. 

" ' Like thee, do not millions receive 

Their chalice, imbittered with gall ? 
If good be creation, believe 

That good, which is common to all. 



(< I 



In evil itself, to the glance 
Of the wise, half the riddles are clear ; 

Were wisdom but perfect, perchance. 
The rest might in love disappear. 

" ' The thunder, that scatters the pest, 
May be but a type of the whole ; 
And storms, which have darkened the breast, 
May bring but its health to the soul. 

" ' Can earth, where the harrow is driven, 
The sheaf in the furrow foresee ? 
Or thou guess the harvest of heaven, 
Where iron has enter'd in thee V " 

These utterances came from no inexperienced 
heart ; they were written by no nnhallowed hand. 
No surpliced priest, nor mitred bishop, could min- 
ister the consolations of our holy religion to a grief- 
stricken mourner, more graciously than did this 
modest, untitled layman — this undesigning exem- 
plar of the most unpretending piety. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 129 

As it is truly said of men in general, so it ni^iy be 
observed of Mr. Maclay in particular ; that, death 
came upon him, "as a thief in the night," at an 
hour, which he knew not ; but he was found watch- 
ing, and, therefore, was not taken by surprise. To 
a number of his friends he remarked in substance, 
at different times, not long before his last sickness, 
that, three-score and ten years was given, by the 
highest authority, as the full measure of human 
life ; that every instance of a life exceeding this 
measure, was an exception to the general rule, upon 
which no one had any right to calculate ; and, that, 
he himself was already near the end of this allotted 
period ; from which we may fairly conclude, that, 
he had deliberately considered the matter, and made 
up his mind, that, the time of his departure was at 
hand. 

A little prior to his own decease Mr. Maclay had 
some conversation with an intimate friend, who 
was then sick, and about to die. He related a 
part of that conversation to me, substantially as 
follows : 

"As we interchanged assurances of sincere regard and fellowship 
for each other, he asked me if I thought he was prepared to die. 
I answered him : ' Yes, I think you are.' And I did honestly think 
so ; for, his life satisfied me, that, he had fulfilled the conditions of 
salvation, by the exercise of repentance toward God and faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by forgiving all, who had sinned against 
him." 

This incident alone shows that Mr. Maclay had 
an intelligent, scriptural idea of what is essential 



130 The Life of 

to salvation; and taken in connection with all the 
other known exponents of his life and character, it 
gives us satisfactory evidence, that, he himself was 
prepared to die ; and, that, when he departed this 
life, it was to join the loved ones, who had gone 
before, and to dwell with them, thenceforth forever- 
more, at the right hand of God in Heaven. 

Mr. Maclay's last illness was of short duration — 
only about ten days. He had no disease, but was 
prostrated by some obstruction of the bowels, upon 
which peritonitis supervened, and became the im- 
mediate cause of death. Rev. Dr. Bridgman, pas- 
tor of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, under 
whose ministry Mr. Maclay attended public wor- 
ship, was his spiritual adviser, and visited him in 
his sickness. He had the medical attendance of his 
brother. Doctor Archibald Maclay, and of Doctors 
Jared Linsly, Austin Flint, and Henry B. Sands. 
But the combined skill of all these eminent physi- 
cians and surgeons was baffled ; his time to die had 
come, and God took him. On the evening of the 
nineteenth day of February, 1882, William B. Mac- 
lay drew his last breath in the body, and, tranquil 
as the unstirred air, gave up his spirit without a 
struggle. 

Of his family he left surviving him two sons, 
Archibald Maclay, a broker, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
and Mark Walton Maclay, a partner in the firm of 
Jeremiah P. and George C. Robinson & Company, 
merchants, of the City of New York. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 131 



OBSEQUIES 



The funeral rites, relating to the death of William 
B. Maclay, and to the interment of his remains, 
were solemnized Feb. 21, 1882, in the Madison Ave- 
nue Baptist Church, where he had been, for several 
years, and up to his last sickness, a regular attend- 
ant upon public worship. The after-named gentle- 
men, personal friends of the deceased, officiated as 
pall-bearers. To wit: 

Hon. Joseph S. Bos worth. Jeremiah Milbank. 

Hon. John T. Hoffman. Wilson G. Hunt. 

Jose F. de Navarro. Charles Butler. 

Hon. Henry C. Murphy. Thurlow Weed. 

A plain but elegant casket, containing the re- 
mains of the deceased, was borne into the church 
and placed on a bier in front of the pulpit. In the 
foremost jDews, next to the pall-bearers, were seated 
a large company of mourning relatives, of no less 
than three ge aerations. The audience-room was 
filled with an attentive, aiDpreciative congregation ; 
notwithstanding a violent storm of wind and rain was 
raging out-of-doors — one of the most inclement days 
of the season. The services were conducted by the 



132 The Obsequies of 

pastor, Rev. C. D'W. Bridgman, D.D., assisted by 
Rev, Howard Crosby, D.D. They were solemn and 
impressive. After tlie invocation and the reading 
of select portions of scripture, a beautiful chant was 
rendered in solo, by one of the sweetest soprano 
singers in New York. Then came the following 



FUNERAL ADDRESS 



BY DR. BRIDGMAN 



The friend who is gone from our fellowship was a man whom 
to know was to love; and as we look on his casket and think 
that his life is ended — that we no more will have the cheer of his 
presence and sympathy — we feel the need of some resting-place 
for our hearts; of something which will tend to mitigate our sor- 
row and awaken a sense of the meaning and majesty of life — some 
word of assurance that it is something more permanent, more in- 
fluential than a mere breath, or a tale that is told. And there are 
two thoughts which urge themselves into utterance, and through 
which some of the comfort of the gospel may flow into our sorrow. 
The first is that a good man never dies — that his work never dies. 
By its very nature the contribution he makes to the helping and 
healing agencies of the world lies beyond the range of our esti- 
mate. We may misunderstand such men; we may misjudge their 
proportions, but we never overestimate their worth to mankind. 
The man who establishes a hospital, endows an institution of 
learning, organizes a society for the protection of some threatened 
interest of the community, does a work which is a perennial fount- 
ain of blessing to the crippled, the ignorant, or the tempted and 
helpless; but he whose life is pervaded with the spirit of good- 



Hon. Wllliani B. Maclay 133 

ness, who brings cheer whithersoever he goes, who is trustworthy 
and trusted, becomes himself a quickening and comforting spirit, 
and lives in the inspirations and upbearing influence he has sent 
forth into the hearts of his fellows. When a sweet melody sud- 
denly ceases it may leave us yearning in silence ; but it cannot 
bear away from us the sweet tranquil mood, the serene confidence, 
nor any of that delicate, refined feeling, which the music occa- 
sioned. And so, though the useful life ends, and in the solitude 
and lonesomeness which ensue, we may think mournfully of the 
hand thai has vanished and of the voice that is still, the lines of 
its infiuence are not broken and ended ; it still lives ; is an abiding- 
force in the world, tempering other lives to its quality, and operat- 
ing in invisible ways to make better the life of mankind. Rich 
souls enrich other souls. The good evoke goodness. It is this 
which is one of the sources of comfort in this funeral service. 
These lips will never more speak. The closed eyes will never 
again shine at our coming. 

" That life has gone, the bi-eath has fled, 
And what has been no more shall be." 

We gaze through our tears on this still, pallid face, and it seems 
as if nothing more remained of our friend than what is inclosed 
in this casket, and the memories that live in our hearts. But the 
fruits of the sunshine remain through the night; and as we think 
of what has been born of this life; of the outcome of these seventy 
years — the noble manhood, the faithful and generous service, and 
all that went forth from him as an inspiration and impulse to 
others — we gain some conception of the greatness of the 2>ower 
with which life is charged, and of how impotent death is to de- 
stroy the work which every good man accomplishes, and which 
God by His Providence, and His Spirit, perpetuates in the world. 
"Being dead, he yet speaketh." But the supreme place must be 
given to the thought of the immortality of the believing soul, 
which Christ has assured us of in the gospel. The workman is 
more than his work; the steamship is more than the wake which 
makes the track of the voyage. We cannot believe that this life 



134 TTie Obsequies of 

which is so suddenly stopped in its grace, and its blessing, is 
finally ended. There is something more than our work which is 
valuable. There is a fund of experience, gathered from experi- 
ment, and struggle, and pain, which it is impossible for one man to 
communicate to another. This is the most precious part of our 
knowledge ; and it is saved only as the being is saved, and is made 
useful only as the soul passes through death into a sphere of be- 
neficent action and perpetual progress. This carries in it a pledge 
of a future existence. There are many in this company who have 
known the joys of prosperity and popular favor; but what are 
riches and honors compared with the jiractical wisdom they have 
gained in the course of the years, and which more than compensates 
for the loss of the ardor and adventurous energy of their youth. 
This cannot be alienated : it cannot be transferred to your chil- 
dren; it is your peculiar, exclusive possession; and to believe that 
all this will be spilled in the grave and forever lost to the uni- 
verse, is to believe that God is wasteful and unjust, and that the 
principle of economy which rules in creation is violated in the 
highest region of all — the moral life of his children. 

In the record of the transfiguration of our Lord there is a word 
that is deeply significant as to the meaning of death. They 
"spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusa- 
lem." "Decease," a departure, a going forth, an exodus, as 
when Israel went forth out of Egypt into freedom and the sphere 
of their nobler development. This is the meaning of death to 
those who have passed through the mystery; this is the word 
that describes it in the dialect of the heavenly land. There is 
neither dissolution nor impairment of our nature implied. The 
dying do not even lajjse into slumber; they pass into a new scene; 
enter another room, simply, in our Father's house, in which they 
shall find scope for yet nobler ministries, and a more unfettered 
dignity of existence. 

** There is no death ! What seems so is transition ; 
This life of mortal breath 
Is but a suburb of the life elysian, 

Whose portals we call death." 



Hon. William B. Maclay 135 

This is the aspect in which I conteraplete the death of our 
friend. He is gone from us. Only tlie mortal part lies in this 
casket; somewhere beyond the range of our vision he is living; 
and in the freedom and joy of his new life, with no dimness of 
faculty, with no loss of anything which gave sweetness to his fel- 
lowships on the earth, lie serves God, and is blessed forever. 

There was a cheerfulness and a tenderness about Mr. Maclay's 
life, which I will never cease to remember. Although he had 
almost completed the full measure of three score and ten years, 
there was nothing in his conversation or manner that suggested 
any thought, save that life was pleasant to him, and that the 
world was still a scene of piu-e and healthful enjoyment. "His 
heart had a look southward, and was open to the whole scene of 
nature." He relished all beauty, and found it, in fields and 
books, and in the faces and characters of his friends. He knew 
the best literature; was fond of devotional poetry; loved the 
Bible and the Sanctuary; and though we regret that he never 
united with the Church, yet the sjiirit of goodness was so mani- 
fest in his life, and his reverence for the things of religion so 
plainly demonstrated, as to assure us of his faith, and that he be- 
longed to the company " of them that believe to the saving of the 
soul." He was one of the gentlest and most unassuming of men, 
and very rarely referred, even in his intercourse with his friends, 
to the repeated expressions of their favor, which the people had 
given him. He moved about among his fellows as if he would 
rather not be seen or heard until such time as he could be of I'eal 
service; but then he was quick and xmtiriug in affording the 
requisite help. He had a deep sympathy with all sorts and condi- 
tions of men. The sum and substance of his religion was love; 
and hence it was that he discovered men everywhere, in all par- 
ties, in every Church, and in no Church, with whom he found it 
possible to have pleasant and intimate fellowship He was genial 
and kindly toward all. His friendliness made friends. In the 
course of his illness a man said to me: "I have never known one, 
Avho had more friends than Mr. Maclay " ; and after his death 
another said sadly: '' I have never loved any man, except my own 



136 The Obsequies of 

father, as I loved him." Better are such testimonies than riches, 
and he who has attracted such love, who has lived so nobly and 
graciously as to have "troops of friends" to lament him, has not 
lived in vain. 

In the epistle to the Hebrews, after the trials of the faith and 
patience of the jjatriarchs have been mentioned, it is said *' God 
was not ashamed to be called tlieir God, for He hatli prepared 
for them a city " ; and when the tidings came of the death of our 
friend, and I remembered the last words he spoke to me of his 
trust in the Father, and his hope as to the future, I thought of 
these words, " God is not ashamed to be called their God " — to be 
called his God, to have attracted his faith, and to have awakened 
in his heart such a hope ; for, He hath prepared for him a city. 

His life with us is ended. Thank God for the peace which was 
in his heart as he contemplated the end, and whilst we mourn for 
our loss let us rejoice that through death he has found the fulfill- 
ment of his hope of the life everlasting. 

Following this admirable address Dr. Crosby de- 
livered an eloquent, well-deserved eulogy on the pub- 
lic life of Mr. Maclay, a copy of which was requested 
for publication in these obsequies ; but, as he spoke 
from the inspiration of the occasion, without pre- 
meditation, and liis speech was not reported at 
the time, he felt that he could not do justice to 
the subject, by attempting its reproduction. The 
Dr.'s own explanation will be found in his letter on 
a subsequent page. 

In connection with the foregoing addresses were 
sung these beautiful hymns, — "Asleep in Jesus" 
and " Rock of Ages,"— which w^ere known to have 
been particular favorites of the deceased. And, as 
these sacred lyrics celebrate in song the funda- 



Hon. William B. Maclay 137 

mental doctrine of Christianity, we have, in this cir- 
cumstance, another evidence of Mr. Maclay' s Chris- 
tian character, in that, no one, whose heart is in 
harmony with such doctrine, can be a stranger to 
the spirit of Christ and the love of God. 

To point this evidence, and give it the prominence 
it deserves, these hymns are here set out in full, as a 
part of this memorial. The first was written by Mac- 
kay, and is, perhaps, the sweetest we have from 
that pious and gifted poetess ; as follows : 

Asleep in Jesus ! blessed sleep ! 
From which none ever wake to weep ; 
A calm and undisturbed repose, 
Unbroken by the last of foes. 

Asleep in Jesus ! O, how sweet 

To be for such a slumber meet ; 

With holy confidence to sing, 

That death hath lost its venomed sting. 

Asleep in Jesus ! peaceful rest ! 
Whose waking is supremely blest ; 
No fear — no woe, shall dim that houi", 
That manifests the Saviour's power. 

Asleep in Jesus ! O, for me 
May such a blissful refuge be ; 
Sectirely shall my ashes lie ; 
Waiting the summons from on high. 

The following " imjDerishable hymn " was written 
by Augustus Montague Toplady, an eminent divine 
of the Church of England ; and has been translated 
into nearly every language in Christendom. An 
excellent Latin translation was made, by the Right 
Hon. W. E. Gladstone, now Prime Minister of Eng- 
land, in 1848, and first published in 1866 ; and, at 

10 



138 The Obsequies of 

the request of Hon. William B. Maclay, a version 
was recently made in the Italian language, by Pro- 
fessor E. C. Sebastiani, one of the most eminent 
teachers of the Italian and Frencli languages, in 
the City of New York. It is not too much to say, 
that, this hymn is universally admired by Chris- 
tians of all sects and denominations. For obvious 
reasons it is here given, not as commonly found in 
our hymn-books, but as the author himself wrote 
it, as follows : 

Rock of Ages, cleft for me ; 

Let me hide myself in thee ! 

Let the water and the blood, 

From thy riven side which flowed, 

Be of sin the double eui'e. 

Cleanse me from its guilt and power. 

Not the labors of my liands 
Can fulfill the law's demands ; 
Could my zeal no respite know. 
Could my tears forever flow. 
All for sin could not atone ; 
Thou must save, and Thou alone. 

Nothing in my hand I bring ; 
Simply to Thy Cross I cling ; 
Naked, come to Thee for dress ; 
Helpless, look to Thee for grace ; 
Foul, I to the fountain fly ; 
Wash me. Saviour, or I die ! 

While I di-aw this fleeting breath, 
When my eyestrings break in death, 
When I soar through tracts unknown, 
See Thee on Thy judgment-throne ; 
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in Thee I 

Mr. Maclay was a great admirer of Toplady, as a 
devout minister of the gosjiel, and a writer of devo- 



Hon. William B. Maclay 139 

tional hymns. He had an autograph letter of Top- 
lady's, which he prized very highly ; and he made 
a little book, in which this, his most favorite hymn, 
is ingeniously and beautifully illustrated. The fol- 
lowing quotation from that book, giving an analy- 
sis of the hymn, is really one of the most gratifying 
manifestations of Mr. Maclay' s Christian experience, 
and is scarcely anything less than a confession of 
his personal faith in the Lard Jesus Christ, as the 
Savior of men. He says : 

"We can forget the fierce controversy between Toplady and 
Wesley, or remember it only as a proof that there must be some- 
thing divine in Christianity, or it could never have survived the 
conduct of its friends. We can afford to lose * the historic pr6of of 
the doctrine of Galvanism in the Chm-ch of England,' but not the 
more enduring memorial its author unconsciously erected to his 
name in the ' Rock of Ages.' Simple in structure, clear in expres- 
sion, and plain in diction, it fulfills all the conditions of a hymn, 
which, as a medium for the expression of devout feeling, admits of 
no mere ornament for its own sake. All along the years of the 
century since it was written, like that fabled song of Orpheus of 
old, it has awakened life in what was before inanimate. No other 
hymn seems so adapted to a bed of sickuess, or when the chamber 
of the dying has become the chamber of death, and mourners, sus- 
tained in their sorrow by the everlasting arms, dry their tears at 
beholding not the end but the beginning of life. It rises above nar- 
row boundaries, which, to too great an extent, have divided the 
Christian world ; for, as has been finely said of another hymn : ' It 
is a creed, taking wing and soaring upward to heaven.' Its music 
has filled the whole earth ; and, in lands widely separated, has 
found an echo in many hearts, because adapted to the needs of our 
common humanity. Its utterances overflow with all that is tender- 
est in Christian love, and all that is highest in Christian tinist. In 
it are blended contrition for sin with aspirations for holiness ; the 
confessed inadequacy in our weakness, of our own strength as of 
our own merit ; but its distinguishing feature, its best teaching, is a 



140 The Obseqiues of 

pervading, heart-felt, recognition of the gi-eat central truth of our 
absolute dependence, for deliverance from the guilt and power of 
sin, upon the finished work of Him, who is '■ the theme of all ages, 
tongues, and creeds, the divine harmony of all human discords, the 
solution of all the dark problems of life.'" " Known only to God is 
the number of those who have experienced its sustaining, up-lifting, 
power." 

How can we speak of the autlior of such utter- 
ances, as having never made a profession of re- 
ligion? Did ever more fitting words of religious 
instruction fall from the lips of a Christian minis- 
ter? Mr. Maclay's clearly expressed views of this 
hymn, give us a key to his Christian character and 
religious experience, which is exceedingly gratifying 
and consoling to contemplate ; and which affords 
the fullest assurance of his acceptance with God, 
and his entrance into the life everlasting. 

The funeral services in the church were closed 
with prayer, and a benediction by the pastor. A 
line was then formed, in which the friends of the 
deceased, and mourning relatives, passed by the 
casket, to look once more, and for the last time in 
this world, upon the face of that good man ; still 
familiar and lovely in form ; but sadly desolated 
and darkened, by the absence of that indwelling 
spirit, which had so lately enlivened and lit up 
every feature of his countenance, with a sincere ex- 
pression of the divinest virtues of the human soul. 

The next day, Feb. 22, 1882, the remains of 
William B, Maclay were borne to Greenwood Cem- 
etery, and, with appropriate ceremonies, laid beside 
those of his father and mother and other members 



Hon. William B. Maclay 141 

of the family, in a requiem, which no turmoil shall 
ever disturb, till the voice of the archangel, the 
trump of God, awakens the dead, in the resurrec- 
tion of the just. 

But the soul has no share in this repose of the 
body. He, who spoke as never man spoke, and 
taught the people, as one having authority, not as 
the scribes, said to the believing penitent on the 
cross : ' ' To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise ' ' ; 
and this promise was made to him as a representa- 
tive of all believers, that it might be applied to, 
and fulfilled in, the death of every Christian. It 
teaches us that while the body dies, and goes down 
to the grave, — dust to dust, — the soul survives, and 
immediately goes up to God, to dwell in the house 
of the Lord forever ; with the Father, and the Son, 
and the Holy Spirit, and all the blood-washed 
throng. 

It was in the faith and hope of this glorious im- 
mortality, that, William B. Maclay looked forward 
to a future state, when once he said to the writer : 
" Many of my associates are gone ; there are some 
whom I should like to see again, and I hope we 
shall meet hereafter" ; and, as he said of his daugh- 
ter, who so soon followed his sainted wife, that she 
had gone 

" To hear again a mother's voice, 
To mingle with the lights above ; 
With radiant seraphs to rejoice, 

And taste more than a mother's love." 

And, as in that letter of condolence, which he wrote 



142 The Obsequies of 

to his nie(!e, upon the death of her husband, after 
speaking of him as "a sincere Christian," whose 
death was a loss to tlie community, he said : 

" Their loss was his gain. If we could see as we are seen, and 
know as we are known, how many enigmas of our i)resent state 
would cease to be mysterious ; and how strong would bo our percep- 
tion of those truths, now foeljly apprehended, though having their 
basis in revelation, and all the analogies of nature. Your own sor- 
row for the saved and lost might be absorbed in admiring love and 
gratitude at the discovery that what, to imperfect knowledge, ap- 
peared a calamity was in reality a wrestling angel— a messenger of 
blessing — a link in the chain of the divine government, connecting 
the trials of time with the i"e wards of eternity — and alike essential 
for his perfect happiness and your highest good. God lias so made 
us, that, our hearts are disquieted by even a temporary absence from 
those we love. At the last separation, with bitter tears scarce dried, 
we indulge the hope, that, when our course is run, we may rest to- 
gether with them." 

Indeed, without such faith and hope, in respect 
to the lounion and blissful fellowship of friends in 
a future state, death is a riddle, for which this life 
has no satisfactory solution. The Elysian theories 
of future happiness, which have sprung up, appar- 
ently innate, in heathen minds, —the profoundest 
problems of immortality, on which philosophers 
have sx^eculated, poets sung, and seers ])rophesied, 
in pagan lands, — nuiy all be discarded, as myths of 
the imagination, — a dream of the ages. But once 
let the eye of Christian faith look into the vista, 
which divine revelation has opened, through the 
dai'kest shades, that overhang the avenue of death, 
and catch a glimpse of the sublime sequel to this 
proemial stage of man's existence, and no other 



Hon. William B. Maclay 143 

light will be needed lo photograph on the soul the 
veritable scenes of a heavenly state ; no other inspi- 
ration of prophecy will be required to foretell, and 
prefigure, the mutual felicitations and rapturous joy 
of long-parted friends, now meeting in a glorified 
state, to enjoy in each other's society forever the 
inheritance of a heavenly kingdom, an inherit- 
ance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
away. 

If the penitent, whom Jesus pardoned on the 
cross, was with his Redeemer in paradise, on the 
very day of their crucifixion ; if the heavenly 
messenger, who talked with John on the isle of 
Patmos, was, as he said, one of the old Hebrew 
prophets ; if the Moses and Elijah, who met and 
talked with Jesus, on the Mount of Transfigura- 
tion, were the identical hiw-giver and prophet of 
ancient Israel, who had centuries before departed 
this life ; how can we doubt — why should we not 
believe, that our deceased friend, William B. Mac- 
lay, was, on the day of his dissolution, with Jesus 
in paradise, and has been ever since with his sainted 
father and mother, brother and sisters, wife and 
daughter, and a host of other kindred, and old- 
time friends, in some of the "many mansions" of 
our Father's house above ; where they will continue 
to hail with ecstatic joy every new accession to 
their number, until the last heaven-bound pilgrim 
shall enter the gates, and walk the golden streets 
of the celestial city ; — until the work of redemp- 
tion is complete, and that royal proclamation of 



144 Tlie Obsequies of 

the Cross, lirst made on Calvary, shall be finally 
and more slgnilicantly pronounced from the medi- 
atorial throne in Heaven — " It is FrNisiiED," Then 
that great multitude, which no man can number, 
of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and 
tongues, shall stand before the throne, and before 
the Lamb, clothed in garments of salvation, with 
palms of victory in their hands ; all uniting in 
the universal ascription, which, according to the 
last prophecy of divine revelation, is to be heard 
from every creature, that is in heaven, and on the 
the earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and 
all that are in them, saying : " Blessing, and honor, 
and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth 
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and 
ever." 

" If yon bright stars which gem tlie night, 

lie each a blissful dwelling sphei'e, 
Where kindred spirits reunite, 

Whom death has torn asunder here, 
How sweet it were at once to die, 

And leave this blighted orb afar — 
Mix soul with soul, to cleave the sky, 

And soar away from star to star. 

" But oh ! how dark, how drear, how lone 

Would seem the brightest world of bliss. 
If wandering through each radiant zone, 

We failed to find the loved of this ! 
If there no more the ties should t^vine. 

Which death's cold hand alone can sever, 
Ah ! then these stars in mockery shine. 

More hateful as they shine forever. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 145 

" It cannot be! — each hope and fear 

That dims the eye or clouds the brow, 
Proclaims there is a happier sphere 

Than this dark world that holds us now ! 
There is a voice which sorrow hears, 

When heaviest weighs life's galling chain ; 
'Tis Heaven that whispers ' dry thy tears — 

The pure in heart shall meet again ! ' " 



TRIBUTES OF CONDOLENCE 



The following papers and letters are published 
here, not only to set them out and preserve them, 
as testimonials of respect for the deceased, and 
condolence with the bereaved ; but, also, to cor- 
roborate and complete the author's delineation 
of Mr. Maclay' s character. For, as we get the 
exact figure of a mountain, by putting together 
numerous observations, taken at different stand- 
points, commanding views of all its different 
parts severally ; so, we obtain the most perfect 
portraiture of an eminent man, by a judicious 
combination of what various well-informed, fair- 
minded witnesses testify concerning him. 

TRIBUTE FROM HIS ALMA MATER. 

University of the City of New York, \ 
October 17, 1882. f 

At a meeting of the Council, held at the Council-Room, this 

day, Aaron J. Vanderpoel, LL.D., of the Committee to prepare a 



146 Condolence with the Family of 

minute on the decease of Hon, William B. Maclay, a member of 
the Council, reported the following: 

William Brown Maclay was born on the 20th March, 1812; and 
entered the Department of Science and Arts of this Institution in 
the year 1832; and graduated in 1836. In June, 1838, he was 
elected a member of the Council, which position he continued to 
fill to the day of his death, on the nineteenth of February, 1882. 
In 1839 he was elected to the Assembly of this State, and was 
twice re-elected; holding the office in the years 1840, 1841 and 
1842. He was five times elected a Representative to Congress 
from the City of New York; namely, in the years 1842, 1844, 
1848, 1856, and 1858. 

At the opening of his career Mr. Maclay filled, during the 
absence of Prof. Proudfit, the chair of the Latin Language and 
Literature in this Institution; was engaged in the editorial con- 
duct of the New York (Quarterly Review ; and was admitted to 
the bar. In these pursuits he displayed the energy and ability, 
which had marked his course as a student ; for he had graduated 
with the highest honors. But his patriotic feeling, as well as his 
maturity of judgment, and aptness for public questions, led him 
into prominence. It was but three years after his graduation, 
that he became a member of the State Assembly. His measures 
for facilitating the business of the Courts of Law, and for estab- 
lishing the present system of Public Schools in this city, brought 
him great reputation, and he was elected to represent the city in 
Congress; where he served on the Ways and Means and other 
important Committees, and was effective in his support of the 
questions of that day, the reduction of postage, the annexation of 
Texas, and the Oregon controversy. After five terms of such 
service, he withdrew from public life. He then spent several 
years in foreign travel, and remained for the rest of his days at 
his home in this city. He was, besides, a man of refined culture, 
of elevated sentiment, and of a genial spirit. 

During the forty-three years of his membership in the Council, 
he was a constant attendant at our meetings, and his course was 
uniformly in favor of harmony, with a wise regard for the best 



Hon. William B. Maclay 147 

interests of his Alma Mater. He filled the full allotted course of 
seventy years, and has left, in the heart of each of his associates, 
the feeling, that, he has lost a friend, and that the University has 
lost one of its wisest, and most devoted sons and counselors. 

Whereupon, it was liesolved, That this minute be entered on the 
Record, and communicated to tlie family of the decease'd. 
Extract from the minutes. 
(Signed) Wm. R. Martin, Secretary. 

TRIBUTE FROM TAMMANY HALL. 

At a well-attended meeting of the Tammany Association of the 
Tenth Assembly District held soon after Mr. Maclay's decease, 
resolutions, expressing deep regret for his death, and profound 
sympathy with the bereaved family, and setting forth his life-long 
services to the Democratic party, were adopted after an eloquent 
eulogy by Alderman Levy, who was authorized to report the reso- 
lutions to the General Committee. At the next meeting of the 
Tammany General Committee on Organization, which was largely 
attended, Hon. John Kelly presiding. Alderman Levy, after 
paying an eloquent and touching tribute to the memory of the 
late William Brown Maclay, offered the following preamble and 
resolutions : 

Whereas, An all-wise Providence has called from us by death 
Hon. William Brown Maclay, long and honorably known as one of 
the leading Democrats of this city and State, who served faithfully, 
with distinction, three terms in the Assembly and five terms in the 
national House of Representatives, a man of marked ability, dis- 
tinguished in all the walks of life, a Democrat from conviction, 
always true to our time-honored organization, a citizen and patriot 
above reproach, who endeared himself to all those who knew him, 
and, above all, a worthy and honorable man. 

Resolved, That the members of this ancient organization recognize 
and deplore their loss, and that of the Democratic party of the State 
and nation, in his sudden and too early departure from fields of use- 
fulness. 

Resolved, That we mourn the loss of a distinguished Democrat and 
a loyal friend, and extend owe heartfelt sympathies to his sorrow- 
stricken family in their sad bereavement. 

Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolutions, suitably 
engrossed, be transmitted to the family of the deceased. 



148 Condolence with the Family of 

Hon. John B. Haskin, in seconding the resolutions, alluded to 
the many noble traits which so distinguished Mr. Maclay in life. 
He liad the honor to serve in Congress with the gentleman, and 
knew him at all times and on all occasions to be an able, fearless 
and consistent Democrat. He ])ossessed qualities of mind and 
heart which made him admired and loved l)y all, and his long and 
honorable career in the Legislature and in Congress was one that 
the foremost citizen of the land might be proud of. 

Hon. John Kelly, who also served a term in Congress with Mr. 
Maclay, spoke in eulogy of the deceased, after which the resolu- 
tions were adopted by a rising vote. 



LETTER OF REV. HOWARD CROSBY, D.D., LL.D., 

Late Chancellor of the University of the City of Neic York. 

116 East 19th St., New York, ) 
March 7, 1882. j 
Messrs. Bdbert & Moses B. Maclay and Others. 

My dear Sirs: I have received your very kind request for a 
copy of my remarks at the funeral services of the Hon. Wm. B. 
Maclay, and wish I could conform to your request; but the 
remarks alluded to were entirely unpremeditated, and made out 
of the fullness of my heart; so that, it would be impossible 
for me to recall them. My memory always fails in tlie effort to 
remember my own addresses. I sincerely regret that I am thus 
debarred from acceding to your very kind request. Joining with 
you all in respect and affection for the memory of my esteemed 
friend and colleague, 

I am yours very respectfully, 

Howard Crosby. 

LETTER OF HON. HENRI C. MURPHY. 

The author of this letter, who is now himself 
deceased, was by profession a lawyer, endowed 
with good natural abilities, extensive acquirements, 



Hon. William B. Maclay 149 

and fine mental culture ; as the offices, which he 
filled with honor, sufficiently attest. He was suc- 
cessively Counsel to the Corporation and Mayor of 
Brooklyn, State Senator and Representative in 
Congress, United States Minister to Holland, and 
up to the time of his death. President of the Board 
of Commissioners, having charge of building the 
Bridge across the East River from New York to 
Brookljm. 

Bbookltn, June 11, 1882. 
Robert Maclay, Esqu. 

Dear Sir : I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of 
the 23d ult., apprising me of the preparation of a sketch of 
the life and obsequies of your uncle the late Hon. William B. 
Maclay. 

It is among the pleasantest recollections of my life to recall the 
early associations which I had with him, and the friendship which 
continued between us until his death. Mj acquaintance with 
him commenced in the Congress of 1843. We were about the 
same age and among the youngest members of the body in which 
we took seats together, as representatives from adjoining districts, 
and having some important interests in common to look after and 
protect. Hence our intimacy, and the opportunity to study his 
character and learn his ability and attainments. He was a genial 
and contiding friend, cheerful, kind, and open-hearted; and as a 
legislator, industrious, active, and persevering. He was however 
exceedingly modest and unobtrusive. He rarely occupied the 
floor; and when he spoke it was only in the performance of duty, 
which rendered it unavoidable. It was not for want of ability. 
His mind was well stored with knowledge, and he possessed a 
fancy, which a liberal education and much reading enabled him 
to enrich with many fine gems of literature, whicli he had 
garnered. , He was careful and painstaking as a representative, 
fulfilling the high trust, reposed in him, conscientiously, faith- 



150 Condolence with the Family of 

fully, and fearlessly. For many years afterwards our course so 
auspiciously begun, led us in diflEerent directions, but never 
separated us though we necessarily saw less of each other. He 
was appointed from the City of New York a trustee in the great 
public enterprise, in which I am now, and have from its inception, 
been engaged. In that position he evinced the same peculiar 
qualities which I have mentioned, as characteristics of his 
character. 

To have had such a man as a counselor and friend in the most 
trying scenes of my life, I consider as the most fortunate of 
its incidents. He was my associate and counselor in the 
beginning and well nigh to its end. Why should I not weep 

for Lycidas ? 

Believe me ever yours sincerely, 

Henri C. Murphy. 

LETTER OF HON. THOMAS HOYNE, 

Ex- Judge, County Cleric, and United States Marshal of Chicago. 

Chicago, June 24, 1883. 
Robert Maclay, Esqu., NeiD Yorh City. 

My dear Robert: I was deeply moved when the sad intelli- 
gence came to us that your uncle William was no more. You 
may feel assured, that any tribute to his memory, at whatever 
sacrifice, whicli I can offer, will be regarded by me as a grateful 
solace, while performing a duty, which a sense of justice would 
demand at my hands. 

Among the many early, and most of them distinguished, asso- 
ciates of my early life, I know of no one, to whom I was person- 
ally more indebted for that friendship, which assisted my fortunes 
at their greatest need than to your highly distinguished uncle, the 
late Hon. William B, Maclay. 

He first encouraged my dearest youthful aspirations to study 
the law as a profession. He aided me also, in the acquirement of 
an education which I lacked, and he always tendered me a cordial, 
kind, and generous support. 

You know, perhaps, that, at a very early age, I was left an 



Hon. William B. Maclay 151 

orphan in New York, destitute of resources. I had no means 
whatever; and I had no family or friends, to whom I could 
look for a support or dependence. In other words my future de- 
pended upon any unknown qualifications I might be found to 
develop, if I ever found my place in life, by entering upon some 
career of usefulness. Having never been trained in any regular 
school, and having, therefore, attained to no place of education, I 
had before me the stupendous undertaking to first qualify myself 
to enter upon the study of a profession, such as the Law, without 
a definite hope of success. A happy train of coincidences (not 
necessary to relate) threw me into the society of your uncle Will- 
iam, his brother Moses, still living, and your father, the late Dr. 
Robert Maclay; and I found a home under their father's roof. 
Your grandfather (Rev. Dr. Archibald Maclay) was known and 
revered througliout the United States before Chicago had a mu- 
nicipal beginning or name, as one of the most eminent Baptist 
divines, as well as, learned expositors of the Bible. He lived on 
East Broadway in 1835, when I was in the family for a period of 
two years, and up to the time I left New York, to try my fortunes 
in Chicago. During those two years, I enjoyed the friendship 
and intimacy of the large and intelligent family, that as you 
know, at that time, comprised the Maclay household. Among 
them I was enabled to cultivate through their intercourse the 
means that obtained me some knowledge of the classics, and the 
rudiments of a sound English education. And upon that knowl- 
edge I afterwards qualified myself in Chicago to enter the legal 
profession in 1840. 

From the time of my departure for Chicago in 1837, up to his 
recent death I had always been in correspondence with your uncle, 
through his brother, my most intimate and oldest friend now 
alive, your uncle Moses. 

Before our great fire in 1871 I had in my library collections a 
large mass of his correspondence and all his congressional and 
other speeches or writings. As models of eloquence they were 
unsurpassed in beauty of style and fervor of sentiment and patriot- 
ism. I remember, that, before I left New York, when William 



152 Condolence with the Family of 

was in the University he belonged to that " Literary Association," 
in Avhich were numbered Judge C. P. Daly, Hon. Elijah Ward, 
Horace Greely, and Judge Manierre, who like myself found a 
home in Chicago, 

Mr. Maclay was then regarded by all of our members as the 
most gifted and eloquent orator, and among the rising men of that 
day, he was regarded as the most promising. His ten years' pub- 
lic service as member of Congress from New York justified our 
anticipations of his future. It was only when he found, that, a 
long life of devotion to that great party, who had cemented and 
preserved the Union without the danger of a civil war, and man- 
aged the administration of government, without cabinets cor- 
rupted by official jobbery, could not avail him, in attaining to a 
higher reputation, in public life, that repugnance to politics over- 
came his ambition, and he withdrew himself from the turbid strife 
of the caucus and convention. 

In private life he has displayed all the riches of his learning and 
genius. His knowledge of literature, art, and the di-ama, made 
his conversation delightful, and his comments instructive. The 
genial and refreshing flow of his happy temper, qualified by ex- 
perience, endeared him to his friends and made them feel as if 
some life-giving spring was gushing with new life from the earth 
beneath you, while he was present. 

It was my happiness often to meet him on my visits to New 
York ; I met him last Summer at Saratoga and New York in your 
own company. I often met him at the house of his brother Moses 
B. Maclay, where I saw him in November last. Alas! how well 
he then appeared ! How gracefully kind was his greeting! His 
youthful spirit looked through his years; for his spirit was never 
old! His hand was open as the day in meeting charity. He 
always seemed in spirit like that which he so often recited out of 
Sergeant Talfourd's beautiful play of " Ion." 

The little blessings which the poor and weak can scatter have 
their own seasons. 

It is a little thing to speak a word of comfort, which by com- 
mon use has lost its meaning. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 153 

But in the ear of him, who thought to die unheard, it will fall 
as choicest music. 

It is a little thing to give a cup of water, but the blessing to 

the giver is high and enduring as heaven. 

Please accept the regards of your sincere friend, 

Th. Hoyne. 

LETTER OF HON. JAMES E. HARVEY, 

Ex-United States Minister to Portvgal. 

Among the most pleasant of my associations with public men at 
Washington, during the last forty years, Avas an intimacy with the 
late Hon. William B. Maclay, which began with his entrance into 
Congress, and which continued all through his subsequent career, 
though we met only at intervals of late years. 

My vocation as a journalist, commenced but a short time before 
Mr. Maclay was a member of the tlouse of Representatives. I was 
brought into personal contact with the leading men of both parties, 
and soon formed a close and enduring friendship for him. He 
had an excellent standing in the House, as a faithful, diligent and 
capable Representative, who was prompt in the discharge of every 
duty, and who never neglected a trust of any kind. In these 
respects his merit was eminent. 

Of a gentle, confiding, and considerate nature, he made friends 
readily, and he retained them without effort. None delighted 
more than he did, in kindly and generous offices, or was more 
ready to go out of the way, to offer a hand of relief. 

As a public man he shrunk from the assertion of his intellectual 
strength. Diffidence is not a common infirmity in Congress, but 
in his case it was almost a misfortune. With a fine mind, rich 
culture, large reading, pure taste and scholarly habits, his distrust 
of qualities, of which he was actually conscious, left him in the 
rear of inferior men with less gifts, and more audacity, whom he 
could always have led with the least reliance on his mature 
resources. It is a pleasure for me to recall the virtues of my old 
friend, and a sad privilege to drop a tear on his grave. 

James E. Harvet. 
11 



154 Condolence with tlie Family of 

LETTER OF HON. RODMAN PRICE, 

Ex-Qoternor of New Jersey. 

" Hazlewood on Ramapo," ) 

Ramsay, Bergen County, New Jeiisey, > 

March 31, 1883. ) 

My deak Doctor Maci-ay : Tiiat I ain held among the esteemed 
friends of your lamented brother, William B. Maclay, by his 
family is gratifying to me, and it is equally so, that I shall have 
the privilege of adding a sympathetic word in his " Memoir." 

He was my personal and political friend in all the active years 
of his manly life ; and I, therefore, can truly condole with you upon 
his death, which occurred when I was in California; — it was our 
common loss. I feel, I can only feebly, but affectionately pay a 
tribute to his many virtues and high attributes of character, mani- 
fested to me, during our long and intimate association, both in his 
private life, and in his long public career, as a representative, in 
the Congress of the United States. He always impressed me, by his 
marked, calm, sincerity of character, the repose and thoughtful- 
ness of manner, which seemed to impress all who came within his 
influence, with the idea of his sound mind and reflective judgment, 
and with confidence in his action. I saw him an hour after he 
received his severe injuries, in the terrible railroad disaster, at 
Burlington in this State, in the year 1856. Although suffering 
greatly he was the same composed, self-possessed, dignified gentle- 
man as when in his usual health. The serenity of his disposition 
was wonderful indeed ! 

As a citizen, he was patriotic, trusted, and beloved; he had, in 
a bountiful degree, those elements of natiu'e which make his 
memory sweet and delightful to dwell upon ; he passed through 
life with the principles and practices inculcated in childhood by 
his good reverend father, who was a great teacher of the Christian 
religion. 

In his public life he was devoted to a constituency, who appre- 
ciated his ability, zeal, honesty, and integrity as a faithful repre- 
sentative of their interest, and his holy aspiration and purpose of 



Hon. William B. Maclay 155 

elevating his fellow man, and demonstrating the great Democratic 
Republican idea, that, man is capable of self government. He 
held broad, statesman like views, fully comprehending the model 
of our government, believing in the union of the States, and the 
rights of the States, and that both the Union and the States shall 
maintain the rights and liberties of the people. 

With assurances of my regard, I remain very truly yours, 

Rodman M. Price. 

LETTER OF HON. ABRAM S. HEWITT, 

Mepresentative in Congress from New Torlc. 

New York, Feb. 25, 1882. 

Dear Mr. Maclay : On my unexpected return home for a day 
only I find the notice of the undertaker, informing me of my selec- 
tion as one of the bearers of tlie pall at your father's funeral. I 
regret exceedingly that I was not here to perform the mournful, 
but grateful duty. 

Your father was my friend from boyhood, always true and help- 
ful. His public service entitled him to the gratitude, as he en- 
joyed the respect, of the people. 

You have good reason to feel an honest pride in such a father, 
and I trust that his family will all derive consolation from the re- 
flection, that, his memory will be cherished by all who knew him 
as a citizen " without fear and without reproach." 
Sincerely yours, 

Abram 8. Hewitt. 

LETTER FROM FREDERICK SAUNDERS, 

Author of " Salad for the Solitary and the Social,''^ ^^ Festival of 
So7ig," " Evenings with the Sacred Poets," etc., etc. 

The Astor Library, New York, Dec. 7, 1883. 
To Archibald Maclay, 31. D. 

My dear Sir : I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt 
of your kind note requesting me to state the occasion which led to 



158 Condolence with the Family of 

the publication of the lines by your brother on the name Mary, in 
the " Evenings with the Sacred Poets." The facts are as follows : — 
a revised edition of that work was being prepared, to include an 
Appendix comprising some notes on Hymnology and a few recent 
sacred lyrics. Mr. W. B. Maclay chanced to call at the Astor 
Library about this time, and I mentioned the circumstance to him, 
and requested that he would kindly aid me by any suggestions, or 
help me to trace the authorship of some hymns about which there 
seemed to be some dispute. As he evinced much interest in the 
volume I ventured to solicit a poetical contribution from his own 
pen, and in response I had the pleasure of receiving the beautiful 
lyric on the saintly name of "Mary," as follows: 

" Embalmed in Cowper's classic lines, 
In Arctic or in Tropic climes, 
How bright the name of Mary shines. 

' ' Burns caught the lyre with passion strong — 
' Mary in Heaven ' inspired the song. 
Whose notes the choral year prolong. 

" By rippling lake and meadow green, 
Byron, thy Mary's home is seen. 
Though shadowed only in ' a dream.' 

" How soft the aii's of evening play, 
O'er storied arch and cloister gray, 
Kissed by the waves of Genoa's bay ! 

" When barks at anchor peaceful ride, 
And not a sound is heard beside 
' Ave Maria ' o'er the tide ! 

' ' Blest name ! endeared as hers who gave 
Her sorrowing Son the world to save, 
From sin and sorrow and the grave !" 

This allusion to your lamented brother, recalls many pleasant 
memories and recollections of his genial and courteous character. It 
Avas his wont for manv vears, occasionallv to visit the alcoves of the 



Hon. William B. Maclay 157 

Astor Library; and thus I had many opportunities of casual inter- 
course with him; for, as he had an innate love of books, we often 
had brief intervals of literary gossip together. He was fond of 
cracking historic nuts, and solving scientific problems, as well as 
other literary research, and consequently he was no stranger to 
• ' Notes and Qtio'ies, " and similar works. His acquaintance, not only 
with books, but with their writers, was wide and comprehensive, 
and for a score of years, he was an haMtue of the Library, and a 
very appreciative one, as well as an occasional contributor to its 
accumulative literary stores. I am glad that you have tlius per- 
mitted me to bear my humble tribute to the memory of his 
amiable and symmetrical character, — for I shall ever remember 
him, as evincing the most uniform courtesy and kindliness of de- 
portment, coupled with a sincere but unostentatious love of let- 
ters. I beg to subscribe myself very sincerely yours, 

Frederick Saunders. 



LETTER FROM PETER T. SWAINE, 

Lieutenant- Colonel U. S. Army 15tTi Infantry. 

Fort Randall, Dakota, Feb. 21, 1884. 

Archibald Maclay, M.D. 

My dear Friend : It will be a great satisfaction to me to possess 
a copy of the memoir of your late brother, the Hon. William B. 
Maclay : and be assured your kind remembrance of me in connec- 
tion with the publication of the book is highly appreciated. 

He conferred upon me my appointment to "West Point from 
New York City in 1847, and ever after evinced a deep interest in 
my military prosperity and general welfare. It is not surprising 
therefore that I discovered the inestimable qualities of his char- 
acter, that feelings of the warmest friendship for him were 
thereby engendered and maintained, and that he occupies an 
afEectionate place in my memory. 

Cadet William Maclay Swaine (my second son) now at West 
Point was named after him, and it is a gratification to believe he 



158 Condolence with the Family of 

is well qualified, morally and intellectually, to bear the name with 
honor through life. 

With sentiments of esteem for yourself, also, I remain yours 
sincerely, 

Peter T. Swaine, Col. U. S. Army. 

LETTER OF D. B. ST. JOHN ROOSA, M.D., 

Professor of Oflithalmology . 

New York, 27th Feb., 1884. 

My DEAR Sir: When your brother, Mr. William B. Maclay, died, 
I experienced a great personal loss. For some seven years I was 
associated with him in the Council of the University, and I often 
sought and always obtained, his wise advice in matters in which 
we were mutually interested. Mr, Maclay took an active interest 
in the affairs of the University. He was ever desirous that it 
might realize the large designs of its founders. Each department 
found in him an active friend, and he invariably assisted the then 
Chancellor, Howard Crosby, in his efforts, continued through 
many discouragements through many years, to enlarge the useful- 
ness of an institution of which Mr. Maclay was one of the oldest 
graduates and one of the most devoted friends. 

It was also my privilege to see a good deal of Mr. Maclay, in 
social intercourse. He was ever genial, wise, and entertaining. 
Indeed he was an exemplification of the character of a Christian 
gentleman. Our city lost much when he passed away, but he left 
that which never can perish, a memory of one of the just. 

I am, my dear Doctor, with great respect, yours truly, 

D. B. St. John Roosa. 

Dr. Archibald Maclay. 

LETTER FROM MR. E. C. SEBASTIANI, 

Professor of the Italian Language and Literature. 

New York, March 1, 1884. 
My DEAR Doctor: The sudden demise of your brother, Will- 
iam B. Maclay, was to me the great sorrow of my later life. He 



Hon. William B. Maclay 159 

evinced his friendship for me by so many acts of disinterested 
kindness, that they are too numerous to be recounted or forgotten. 
I can truly say the best friend I ever had has been taken away. I 
send you with this brief note an Italian translation of the hymn 
"Rock of Ages." 

Rocea de Seed t' apri e mi naseondi, 
n sangue e I'acqua ehe dal tuo Costato 
Versasti, sia lavacro a sensi immondi, 
Mi purghi dall'error, sani il peccato ; 
Impotente lo renda, e me redima 
Dal rio servaggio dellacolpa prima. 

Un pianger serapre, un Zel non mai languente 

L'offesa, no, non vale ad espiare ; 

Tu magnanimo Amor, Tu Ben clemente 

Tu sol ne dei, Tu sol ne puoi salvare ; 

L'uniea offerta che mia man ti faecia 

E' la croce ehe al sen stringe ed abbraccia. 

Pinch'Io spiri di vita aura fugace, 
Allor ehe in morte I'occhio mio si spenga ; 
Quando I'anima al regno della pace 
S'avvia cercando anela ove le awenga 
Guidice in Tron vederti, in nuovi Mondi, 
Rocea de Secol t'apri e mi naseondi. 

I made this translation at his request. The hymn was a great 
favorite wdth him, and he was familiar with the circumstances, 
under which, it was written, as well as, the biography of the 
author, the Rev. A. M. Toplady. He had an interesting auto- 
graph letter of Toplady, addressed to the Rev. John Ryiand, 
Pastor of a Baptist Church in Bristol, England, defending his Cal- 
vinistic views of theology, 

Very truly yours, 

E. C. Sebastiani. 
Dr. A. Maclay. 



160 Condolence with the Family of 

LETTER FROM HON. CHARLES O'CONOR, LL.D., 

An. eminent hamster, for more than a generation at the head of the 
New Torh Bar, and late United States District Attorney. 

Nantucket, Mass., Jan. 22, 1884, 
Archibald Maclay, M.D. 

My deak Sir: The most touching notes that reach my ear, on 
this remote island, are borne hither from the main, by our single 
daily visitor. Alas! too frequently they announce, that, a friend 
has passed away. Among the most deeply regretted, of those sad 
events, was the recent and unexpected death of your companion- 
brother. I had known him intimately, well, and long; I had 
found in him a true friend, and for him always cherished a high 
esteem. 

His official acts, during sixteen years' service, as a legislator, 
justly secured him this sentiment from a large and observant 
circle. Placing myself therein will not seem presumptuous, as it 
pretends no addition to his fame. His zealous and efficient advo- 
cacy of governmental support to our country's most wonderful 
achievement, the magnetic telegraph, would alone entitle him to 
an honorable place amongst America's historic worthies ; but many 
other public actions may serve to attest the purity of his motives, 
and tlie soundness of his judgment. In his first canvass for Con- 
gress I prophesied on the rostrum, not without due warrant, that 
he would serve faithfully and usefully. By what a series of good 
deeds he verified the prediction, other friends will narrate, when 
giving their meed of praise. My tribute achieves exaltation by 
confining itself to one conspicuous transaction. 

William B. Maclay will be remembered, as a coadjutor of 
Morse, the illustrious compeer of Fulton, on the immortal roll of 
beneficence ! The renown due to his genius had a rival in the lov- 
ing tenderness and esteem, won by the display in his daily life of 
every gentle virtue. 

Reflection upon your loss, and my own, led to a retrospect, pain- 
ful only, at the intervals, where it brought into view the transi- 
tory nature of all human tilings. During that part of my youth. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 161 

which has left traces on memory, New York uniformly celebrated, 
with the forms of a civic triumph, our great national anniversary. 
The procession ended its march at the church in Mulberry Street, 
where, with appropriate ceremonies, a solemn thanksgiving was 
offered up by your reverend father. Twenty summers had not 
shone over me, when, on an Independence Festival, I had the 
honor of pronouncing in that consecrated temple the oration of 
the day. At the end of 1 hree score years the memory of a gratify- 
ing incident remains quite vivid. A sentence from the orator's 
peroration was repeated in the closing prayer. 

I well remember the venerated and amiable pastor, whose full 
name you bear. It might not be in order to state how often, 
among my young friends, he was chosen to bestow the nuptial bene- 
diction. I sometimes fancied it was by an unseen guidance that I 
was so frequently delegated to invite his ministrations. An in- 
teresting event of this kind was a two-fold cei-emony in his own 
house. It was formed by the union of his oldest daughter to Mr. 
James Bogardus, a meritorious and distinguished inventor ; while 
another became the bride of an accomplished young gentleman 
then studying with me for the juridical profession. 

This was my latest participation, under your good father's 
ministry, in such joyous scenes. With me life's simple pleasures 
were then just giving place to its graver duties. At last, even 
these no longer claim ; for the years of action have passed away. 
So, also, have the reverend sire, tlie able and brilliant son, the 
fair brides, and the honored bridegrooms. Remaining yet awhile, 
we realize in sadness, that, " man was made to mourn." 
"With great esteem I remain 

Your friend, 

Ch. O'Conor. 



162 Condolence with the Family of 

LETTER FROM REV. GEORGE W. SAMSON, D.D., 

Ex-President of Columbian College. 

New York, March 8, 1883. 
Mr. Marie W. Maclay. 

Dear Sir : Your lamented father, Hon. Wm. B. Maclay, entered 
Congress at the crisis of exciting debates; and his just weight 
could only be appreciated by an impartial friend. No executive 
had been called to higher duties than the cabinet of President 
Pierce. Through the agency of Mr, Marcy, Secretary of State, civil 
liberty for naturalized citizens, and religious liberty as an inter- 
national courtesy, were secured from the most powerful nations 
of Europe. Through Secretary Dobbin, of the Navy, the Ameri- 
can vessels of war engaged in arresting the slave trade were 
brought to cruise in American waters; and by their efficient serv- 
ice that trade to the islands and coast of Central and South 
America was completely broken up. Congress was agitated by 
discussion as to the increase of non-slave holding States ; Senator 
Sumner had as the aggressive Northern leader, been silenced by 
violence ; Houston, the hero of Texas and disciple of Jackson, was 
the Ajax of the Union ; and the men who held in check the rising 
tide of violent conflict were the calm remonstrants who sought 
to soothe passion, while events too mighty for human control 
were bringing about the Divine purposes of a kind Providence. 
Among these * ' men of their times " was Mr. Maclay ; whose 
course, studied with care, was that of a statesman ; political par- 
tisanship in him as in Houston, never swerving him from patriotic 
devotion. Though not like Houston, in the Senate, a frequent 
debater, Maclay in the House exerted a wide influence for good. 

True patriotism, as universal history and close observation 
always attest, is inseparably linked with deep and ruling relig- 
ions conviction. For two reasons men who are candidates for 
public offices of trust, and who are sincere, are reticent as to their 
zeal and ruling religious convictions. In the first place, men of 
the world, political partisans, fail to discriminate between selfish 
personal interest and true devotion to duty in their judgment of 



Hon. William B. Maclay 163 

their rulers; and hence even David, at times earnest to " teach 
transgressors the way of the Lord," at other times had to confess, 
" while the wicked was before me I held my peace even from 
good." In the second place, the true statesman has a reverent and 
religious ideal. No one conversant for years with the most incor- 
ruptible of statesmen at "Washington could fail to find that like 
Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea such men always loved to 
commune with Christ by night; if occasion came they would de- 
fend his truth before their associates in counsel ; and, yet more, 
that when his own ministers deserted their crucified Redeemer in 
tlieir life and pulpit utterances, true statesmen braved public sen- 
timent by rebuking this defection. That Jewish senators bore 
Christ to his tomb, when his apostles deserted him, proved that 
there is a practical conviction in men who dare not profess piety 
when they know they may fail in meeting the world's judgment 
and their divine Redeemer's scrutiny. They are not professors, 
when thousands of less conscientiousness are, because their ideal 
is too true. Like Adams and Webster, Dodge, Marcy, and Hous- 
ton, tlie Bible became with Maclay the only book really read; 
as his perfect absorption in it, shown by his profound and search- 
ing study of the new version, attests. A man is known by the 
company he keeps. Christ himself declared, " If ye continue in 
my word then are ye my disciples indeed." One at whose house in 
Washington father Maclay was a guest, and under whose ministry 
the son for four years sat, is sure the family is one above. 
Very truly yours, 

Geo. W. Samson. 



LETTER OF REV. CHARLES F. DEEMS, D.D., 

Pastor of the Church of the Stranger. 

The Hon. William B. Maclay has been known to me for years, 
and I regard it a thing for which to be very grateful, that he is 
known to have counted me among his friends. 

With his public life I am acquainted in common with thousands 
of his fellow citizens, as a life which was exemplary of fidelity to 



164 Condolence with the Family of 

the trusts, imposed upon his honor and ability, trusts which he not 
only never betrayed but always guarded with a sensitiveness as 
acute as his abilities were rare. He was remarkable for the great 
modesty which kept him from a display he could so easily have 
made, if he had been smitten with a love for vulgar conspicuous- 
ness. Few men who were his colleagues in the Congress of the 
United States did as much thorough work and accomplished as 
mucli for the public service as did this conscientious, laborioiis, 
and honest legislator. Only the few who watched his public 
career — and most of those have now departed this life — enter- 
tained for his memory that gratitude which is due to this man 
who seemed to be actuated by the conviction that that statesman 
serves his party best who serves his country most. 

As his colleague in the Council of the University of the City of 
New York it gives me pleasure to testify to the punctuality and 
earnestness with which he devoted himself to the interests of the 
institution. He was singularly cool, clear-headed and far-sighted, 
and now that he is gone there are those of us who never attend a 
meeting of the Council without a sad sense of his absence. 

In private life Mr. Maclay was gentle, true, and good. There 
was no gushing manner in him, which gave promise of what he 
would not or could not perform. He was steadfast in his friend- 
ships and eminently trustworthy. If he created no enthusiasm his 
whole intercourse with his friends begat the most thorough confi- 
dence in him as a most steady and honest gentleman. 

Mr. Maclay's acquirements were of no mean order. With other 
environments in early life he would probably have become a noted 
author. The miscellaneous contributions of his pen to the press 
evince learning, judgment, and taste ; and all his productions are 
on the side of the highest humanity and the highest philanthropy. 

He will be missed from a circle, which, if not large, was deeply 
appreciative of his noble character, and the memory of his excel- 
lencies will stimulate those who knew him to emulate the virtues 
of this admirable man and true gentleman. 

Charles F. Deems. 



Hon. William B. Maclay 165 

LETTER OF REV. A. S. PATTON, D.D., 

Editor of the Baptist Weekly . 

New Yokk, March 15, 1882. 
I'o Roht. Maclay, Esqu. 

My dear Friend: I have no words to express my sense of be- 
reavement in the death of my esteemed friend, Hon. Wm. B. 
Maclay. Instead of writing a letter of condolence to you and the 
afl3.icted family, I feel like mingling my tears witli you in your 
great sorrow, and craving for myself, a share of the comforting, 
tliat, I know you all need under the stroke, that, has fallen upon 
you. 

From the day that I assumed the editorship of the Baptist 
Weekly to within a little more than a week of Mr, Maclay's death, 
he was my wisest counselor and most efficient helper, and among 
all, who visited the editorial room, no one was more welcome. 
He won my fullest confidence, and inspired in me a profound re- 
spect for his character and attainments. His knowledge of books 
always surprised me. He had made himself familiar with the 
whole range of English literature, and, in the department of fine 
arts, his knowledge was most exact and critical. In addition to 
his acquirements in Political Economy, he had found time, amid 
the engrossing cares of a busy public life, to acquire an unusually 
wide knowledge of letters and science, and with a mind so fully 
furnished, he was able to write in a style remarkable for its 
strength and beauty. A nobler, purer, better man I have never 
known, and I mourn for him, as one dearer to me than a friend, 
because he was as loving to me as a father. 

Ever yours, 

A. S. Patton. 

"How sweet, the sympathy of hearts, that melt 
In soft adoption of another's sorroiv /" 



166 Letter of Condolence 



LETTER OF HON. FERDINAND LEVY, 

ALDERMAN AT LARGE OP NEW YORK CITY, WHO OFFERED THE 
RESOLUTIONS, AND PRONOUNCED THE EULOGY 
UPON WILLIAM B. MACLAY IN TAM- 
MANY HALL. 



New York, March, 1882. 
To Robert Maclay, Esq. : 

My Dear Sir — I can hardly find words to express my seuse of 
bereavement in the death of my esteemed friend, Hon. William B. 
Maelay. He was, I am proud to say, my personal and political friend 
for many years. He always impressed me by his sincerity of char- 
acter, and his genial, kind, and charitable disposition. As a citizen, 
he was eminently patriotic, trusted and beloved by all who knew 
him. In his public life he was devoted to his constituents, who ap- 
preciated his alnlity, zeal, honesty, and integrity, as a faithtul rep- 
resentative of their interests. He firmly believed in the great 
democratic, republican idea, that man is capable of self-government. 
In private life he was gentle, true, and good. He was a staunch 
friend ; and a nobler, purer, better man I have never known. In his 
death oiir city has lost one of its best and purest citizens. 
With kindest regards, I remain, 
Yoiu's sincerely, 

FERDINAND LEVY. 



pPPENDIX, 



APPENDIX. 



The foregoing sketch of William B. Maclay gives no account of 
Ms father's family after the first genei'ation ; whereas, the Maclay 
Memorial is designed to be something more than a mere individual 
memoir, which properly narrates only what pertains to a single life. 

An appendix is, therefore, added, to give a genealogy of the entire 
family, embracing the more remote, as well as the immediate, off- 
spring of the Eev. Dr. Archibald Maclay; and, at the same time, to 
embalm some literary remains, which, to say the least, are unspeak- 
ably precious as mementos, and add somewhat to the mcmorabiUa 
familiar of this manifold heirloom. 

The history of the Brown family, into which Dr. Maclay married, 
is not now at hand. The following fragments, taken from an old 
Bible in the possession of William L. Brown, Esq., by Mr. Robert 
M. BiUl, furnish a little authentic information snatched from the 
Lethean current of passing events, to be embalmed in the more 
accessible, enduring records of this Memorial : 

Family of Brown and Anne Patore, of Locknow, near Lanark, 

Scotland : 

Susan 15 July, 1747. 

William 23 January, 1749. 

Stated to be 2 February. 

James 30 June, 1751. 

Marianne 2 January, 1753. 

Isabella 3 May, 1755. 

John 2 February, 1760. 

William Brown was born 2 February, 1749. 
Margaret Provan, 9 October, 1758. 

Married 1779. 
12 



170 Appendix 

FAMILY OF WILLIAM AND MAEGAEET PEG VAN BKOWN. 

Thomas Brown 25 April, 1780, 

Mary Brown 20 Jime, 1782, 

Anne 3 Jime, 1785.. 

Moses 4 September, 1787. 

Margaret 4 September, 1790. 

William 5 June, 1792, 

James 18 June, 1794. 

Thomas 15 January, 1801. 

FAMILY OF EEV. AECHIBALD MACLAY, D.D. 

Very little is known from any authentic record concerning the 
ancestry of Rev. Dr. Archibald Maelay. It appears, from the Kil- 
learn parish records, that his father, Archibald, son of Moses 
Maelay, was born in Blairesson, 1747, and died at Green End in 
1785, and that his mother, Jean, daughter of John Thomas, was 
born in Einroy, 1742, and died in Glasgow, 1804. 

Rev. Archibald Maelay, D.D., was born at Killearu, on the banks 
of Loch Lomond, Stirlingshire, Scotland, May 14, 1776. His wife, 
Mary, daughter of William Brown, merchant, of Glasgow, Scotland, 
was born in that city June 20, 1782. They were married by Eev. 
Greville Ewing, October 5, 1802 ; and twelve children were born to- 
them, as follows : 



Margaret 

Robert Haldane. 

Jane Thomas 

Mary Ann 

Mary Ann 

William Brown . . 
Archibald, Jr .. 

Harriet . . 

Eliza 

Moses Brown 

James Graham . . 
Cornelia 



Aug., 1803. 'Feb. 12, 1831. 
Oct. 8, 1804. Oct. 20, 1805. 
Nov. 29, 1832. 



1808.. 

March 20, 1812 
March 20,1812 

1814... 

1815 

June 1, 1820. 
Sept. 20, 1822, 



Aug. 28, 1838. 
July 7, 1835. 
Feb. 12, 1831 



June 1, 1846. 
1844.... 



Oct. 15, 1868 



Feb. 19, 1882. 



.1824. ... 



Appendix 



111 



FAMILY OF MARGARET MACLAY BOGARDUS. 

Margaret Maclay was married by Rev. Dr. Archibald Maclay, 
Feb. 12, 1831, to James Bogardus, as narrated in the foregoing sketch. 
Having no children that lived to grow up, they adopted their niece, 
Harriet Hogg ; whom they brought up and educated, and to whom 
they left, at their death, a handsome fortiine. Harriet married John 
Overhizer, a graduate of Rochester University, and Professor in the 
Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. One child, named Margaret, has 
been born to them. 

FAMILY OF ROBERT H. MACLAY, M.D. 

Robert Haldane Maclay, M.D., son of Rev. Archibald Maclay, 
D. D., was born in Scotland, Oct. 8, 1804. 

His wife, Eliza Labatut Maclay, daughter of John Marie Joseph 
Labatut, merchant of New York, was born in this city. They were 
married by Rev. Archibald Maclay, D.D., on the twentieth day of 
October, 1825, and seven children were born to them, as follows : 



Margaret 

Mary Ann 

John Archibald 

Robert 

Eliza 

Margaret Jane . 
William 



Apr. 7, 1827. 
May 7, 1828. 
Aug. 10, 1831. 
June 11, 1834. 
June 5, 18S6. 
Feb. 24, 183S. 
Aug. 6, 1844. 



May 18, 1865. 
Jan. 13, 1858. 



Apr. 7, 1827. 
Apr. 25, 1847. 
Sept. 10, 1832. 



Jan. 11, 1868. 
Nov. 29, 1838. 



Of the adults in this family, the beloved wife and devoted mother 
was the first to die. At the prime of life, she fell asleep in Jesus, 
Sept. 5, 1846. 

Of the children that gi'ew up, two were taken away in the bloom of 
womanhood, Mary Ann and Eliza. The former survived her mother 
only a few months, and died April 25, 1847. 

Eliza was married, Jan. 13, 1858, to Thomas Walker Bull, of New 



172 Apjjendix 

York. But on the first daj^ of Jan., 1864, he died, leaA-iughis widow 
with one child, born Nov. 1, 1858, named Eobert Maelay, after his 
mother's brother. And the days of her moiu'ning had scarcely 
passed, when this young grief-stricken widow herself fell into a de- 
cline, and departed this life Jan. 11, 1868. 

The orphan boy, so early bereaved of his father and mother, was 
brought up and educated under the guax'dianship of his uncle and 
namesake, Robert Maelay. He graduated at Columbia College in the 
class of 1880, and on the sixteenth day of April, 1884, he was mar- 
ried by the Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey to Miss Alice Brevoort, 
daughter of Mr. Frederic A. Potts. 

The head of this family, Dr. Robert Haldane Maelay, soon followed 
his daughter, exchanging the sorrows of earth for the joys of heaven. 
After a life of more than three-score years, in which he left, to those 
coming after him, an honorable record of his sterling worth, he 
ceased from the labors and cares of this inconstant world, and en- 
tered into the saints' everlasting rest, Oct. 15, 1868. 

Robert Maclay, son of Robert Haldane Maelay, M.D., w^as born 

in New York, June 11, 1834. 

♦ ' ■ ' 

His wife," Georgiana Barmore Maclay, daughter of the late 
Alfred Barmore, of New York, was born iu this city February 
22, 1848. 

They were married by Rev. Wm. R. Williams, D.D., on the 
eighteenth day of May, 1865, and four children have been born to 
them, as follows : 



NAME. 


BORN. 


DIED. 


Effle Barmore 


April 5. 1866. 
Aug. 34, 1867. 
June 3, 1871. 
Sept. 3, 1878. 


May 4, 1875. 
July 17, 1868. 


Eliza 






Robert, Jr 













For some years, in early life, Robert Maclay was engaged in the 
real estate business, which he left only to take a more important 
position in the Knickerbocker Ice Company, imder the presidency 
of the late Alfred Barmore, who was the pioneer, if not the foimder, 



Appendix 173 

of the ice trade in the city of New York — a company, which, though 
not incorporated until 1855, was in operation as early as 1831, when 
ice was first brought to this city as an article of commerce ; and 
which, from that day to this, has maintained its ascendency over all 
competing interests ; yielding legitimate profits, satisfactory to 
investors, and steadily growing to be, as now reputed, the largest 
ice company in the world, with a capital of three million dollars. 
In the lifetime of Mr. Barmore. Mr, Maclay was Treasm-er and Vice- 
President of the Company. Upon the death of Mr. Barmore. which 
took place May 13, 1875, Mr. Maclay was chosen President, and has 
been reelected to that office annually ever since. He is also a Direc- 
tor in the People's Bank, and is identified with various other public 
institutions. He is justly classed with the solid, substantial men of 
New York. Although scarcely past the meridian of life, he has fully 
exemplified the truth of the wise man's proverb : " Train up a child 
in the icatj he should go ; and when he Isold, he will not depart from it." 

FAMILY OF ADAM P. AND JANE T. PENTZ. 

Jane Thomas Maclav Pentz, wife of Adam Perry Pentz, and 
last and only sm-viviug daughter of Archibald Maclay, D.D., was 
married the 29th of November, 1832, and was the mother of five 
children, three of these still living, \dz.: Jacob, Mary Maclay, and 
Archibald Maclay Pentz. Jacob married Edith J. Richardson, a 
lady of Philadelphia, who was the mother of seven children, all of 
whom are still living, and named as follows : Adam Perry, William 
Richardson, Archibald Maclay, Stanton Williams, Annie Maclay, 
Jeanie Lawrence, and Mary Maclay, Mary Maclay Pentz was mar- 
ried to the late John S. Williams, of New York City, and they had 
twelve children, seven of whom are still living, viz, : Perry Pentz, 
Jeanie M,, Elizabeth B., Stephen G., Paul F., Blair S., and Linsly 
Rudd. Archibald M, Pentz married Mary E., daughter of the late 
Captain William Edwards, of New York, They had four children, 
named as below : William E,, Jeanie M,, Mary, and Perry Carter. 

These grandchildren of the Reverend Father Maclay number 
eighteen, and are all good, healthy specimens of New York City 
stock. They are all imbued WTith Christian sentiments and good 
moral principles, the hereditary result, no doubt, of having such an 
eminent Christian progenitor, 

Mr, and Mrs, Adam P, Pentz celebrated their golden wedding 



174 Appendix 

about two years ago, surrounded by their children and grand- 
children. Although not in robust health, Mrs. Pentz retains, in a 
remarkable degree, the brightness of intellect for which she has 
been distinguished, while her husband, although beyond the allotted 
period of life, is still in the full possession of his mental and physi- 
cal powers. 

At the time of the celebration of the golden wedding referred to, 
Mr. Pentz alluded to the following circumstance, which happened at 
the earliest point of his starting in life. After impressing upon his 
descendants the necessity of the cultivation of the spirit of brotherly 
love, and affection for and toward each other, stated, that he much 
desired to see a return to the high standard of integrity which was, 
in his earlier days, so strongly characteristic of the merchants of 
New York in their business affairs. "At the very outset of my 
career," said he, " when studying law in the oflfice of the late Eich- 
ard Medford Blatchford, I was sent with an important letter to 
Francis Depeau, a much honored merchant, and the founder of the 
fij"st line of packet ships between France and the United States. 
An indi-\adual was just leaving the room as I entered it. Something 
had evidently disturbed the old merchant in the interview; for, 
turning to me, he placed his hand upon my head, and said, in the 
most heartfelt tones: 'My son, be honest, be industrious, and 
never, never, lie.' Let these sentiments of the old merchant, Depeau, 
be your guide through life. They were the words of an eminent 
man in business affairs ; of a man who practised what he 
preached. They should be written in gold. I sincerely trust you 
may all follow the advice thus given to me upwards of sixty years 
ago. Personally I have greatly profited by it. May you all do 
likewise." 

FAMILY OF MARY ANN MACLAY WRIGHT. 

Maky Ann Maclay, daughter of Rev. Archibald Maclay, D.D., 
was married by her father, to Mr. William Wright, merchant of 
New York. Having no children of their own they adopted Mary 
Maclay Hogg, a daughter of Mrs. Wright's widowed sister, Haniet. 
This adopted daughter was brought up, educated, and endowed by 
her foster parents. She married Mr. Brownlee Bensel, and eight 
children were born to them, namely : Marian, William, Oscar, 
Ernest, John, Archibald, Walter and Harriet, of whom Marian, 
John, Walter and Harriet are living. 



Ajypendix 



175 



FAMILY OF WILLIAM B. MACLAY. 

William Brown Maclay, son of Rev. Archibald Maclay, D.D., 
was born in the city of New York March 20, 1812. 

Antoinette Walton, daughter of Mark Walton, Esq., merchant 
of New Orleans, was born in the city of New York. 

They were married by the bridegroom's father Aug. 22, 1838 ; and 
three children were born to them, namely : Ai-chibald, Mark Walton, 
and Antoinette. 

Of this family all but the two sons have passed away, as particu- 
larly narrated in the foregoing sketch. 

Archibald married Miss Annie Richardson, and one child, a 
daughter, has been born to them. 

Mark Walton married Miss Minnie Hinman, daughter of William 
K. Hinman, Esq., merchant of New York ; and two childi-en have 
been born to them, namely William : Hinman and Minnie. Mr. 
Mark W. Maclay is a member of the firm of Jeremiah P. and George 
C. Robinson, wholesale merchants of New York, and is highly es- 
teemed, as a business man, for his intelligence, energy and upright- 
ness. 

FAMILY OF ARCHIBALD MACLAY, M.D. 

Archibald Maclay, M.D., son of Rev. Archibald Maclay, D.D., 
was born in the city of New York, March 20, 1812. 

Julia Ann Walker, daughter of Isaac Walker, merchant of New 
York and St. Loids, was born in the city of Baltimore, October 13, 
1814. 

They were married by the bridegroom's father, July 7, 1835 ; and 
five children were born to them, namely : 



NAME. 


BORN. 


DIED. 




October 19, 1837 
August 13, 1S39 
May 14, 1841 
January 6. 1844 
March ^7, 1846 


December 17, 1837 


William Walker 


October 5, 18.39 


Isaac Walker 




Augustus Walker 




William Walter 









176 



Appendix 



Isaac Walker Maclay was educated in the Military Academy at 
West Point ; where he graduated in 1864, Lieutenant in the First 
Ai'tillery of the United States Army. He was promoted to the ord- 
nance corps, and ordered to the Department of the Platte, imder Gen- 
eral Augui-; and was subsequently stationed at Fort Eichmond, 
Washington Arsenal, Watertown Arsenal, Springfield Ai-mory, and 
Watervliet Arsenal, Troy, N. Y. He resigned from the army in 1874, 
and was appointed Chief Topographical Engineer in the Depart- 
ment of Parks of the city of New York. Eesigning this office he 
became Chief Engineer of the Long Island Railroad, which he gave 
up to establish a business in New York on his own account, as 
civil engineer, in which he is now prosperously engaged. He was 
married November 30, 1869, to Laura Havemej'er, daughter of the 
late Hon. Wm. F. Havemeyer, ex-mayor of New York. Six child- 
ren have been born to them, viz.: 



NAME. 


BORN. 


DIED. 




August 27, 1870 
October 3, 1873 
June 8, 187.5 
October 15, 1876 




Agnes Craig 

William Frederick 








August 29, 1877 




ATnv -2?, 1S78 















Augustus Walker Maclay studied medicine with Prof. Alfred 
C. Post, and graduated at the Medical College of New York Univer- 
sity in 1865. He was appointed assistant surgeon of the United 
States Army in 1865. In 1866 he was put on the staff of sanitary 
inspectors of the Metropolitan Board of Health. In 1869 he resigned 
this office, and was appointed siu'geon of the Municipal Police, where 
he has been constantly on duty in the successful practice of his pro- 
fession now upwards of fourteen years. 

William Walter Maclay was educated in the United States 
Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1863, when only seventeen 
years old; being the youngest, yet one of "The First Five," in a 
class of fifty-five members. He was commissioned ensigu in 1863, 
and master in 1865 ; received the degree of A.M. from New 



Appendix 177 

York University in 1866 ; was two years in the ei^^l war ; in both 
bombardments of Fort Fisher, where, on his vessel, the Ticonderoga, 
eight were killed and thirteen woimded. He was commissioned 
lieutenant in 1867, and lieutenant commander in 1868 ; was ap- 
pointed instructor of mathematics in the Naval Academy in 1868 ; 
fleet lieutenant, and acting fleet captain of the United States Asiatic 
Squadron in 1869 ; was on the Board, appointed by the Japanese 
Government to designate sites for lighthouses on the Japanese 
coasts ; was elected corresponding member of the New York Geo- 
graphical Society in 1870. After eleven years service, he resigned 
from the Navy, graduated from New York University, as a civil en- 
gineer, and became a member of the American Society of Ci^'il Engi- 
neers, by which he was awarded the "Norman Gold Medal" for his 
Essay on Portland Cement. He has been now many years engineer 
in the Department of Docks of New York City, where his services 
are held in high estimation. 

He was married, September 16, 1874, to Miss Marian Bensel, and 
two children have been born to them, namely : 

Alice Bensel, born August 25, 1875 ; Walter, born December 10, 
1879. 

FAMILY OF HARRIET MACLAY HOGG. 

Harriet Maclay was man-ied by Rev. Archibald Maclay, D.D., 
Feb. 12, 1831, to John Anderson Hogg, as naiTated in the foregoing 
sketch ; and two children, Harriet and Mary, were bom to them. 
After their father's death these children were adopted by their 
aunts, as hereinbefore narrated. Harriet Maclay Hogg man'ied, for 
her second husband, James E. Richai'dson, as narrated in the fore- 
going sketch, and f oui- children were born to them as follows : Annie 
Edith, Josephine, and Ai'chibald. 

FAMILY OF MOSES B. MACLAV. 

Moses Brown Maclay, son of Rev. Archibald Maclay, D.D., was 
born in the city of New York, Jime 1, 1820. 

Susan Dayton, daughter of Harvey Dayton, merchant of New 
York, was born in this city, December 15, 1820. 

They were married by Rev. Spencer H. Cone, D.D., on the first 
day of Jime, 1846, and four children were born to them, as follows : 



178 



Appendix 



Mary Brown. ... 
Jeanie Thomas.. 

Susie Harper 

Archibald Moses 



Oct. 8, 1849. 
Nov. S.'8, 1850. 
Dec. ir, 1859. 
Dec. 16, 1860. 



MARRIED. 

Oct. 28, 1874. 
Jan. 25, 1871. 
Feb. 1, 1882. 



Jan. 8, 1884. 



Mary Brown was married, October 28, 1874, to Mr. Joseph C. 
Lawrence, broker, of New York. 

Jeanie Thomas was married, January 25, 1871, to Tliomas Maclay 
Hoyne, lawyer, of Chicago, and five children have been born to them, 
as follows ; 



Moses Maclay 

Thomas Temple 

Archibald Lawrence 

Susie Dayton 

Eugene 



Oct. 12, 1872. 
Nov. 2, 1875. 
April 4, 1878. 
Oct. 10, 1881. 
Nov. 28, 1884. 



Susie Harper was married, February 1, 1882, to Mr. Walter Stan- 
ton, of New York. One child, named Susie Conrad Stanton, was 
born to them, January 3, 1884. But " in the midst of life there is 
death." And, as the morning sun, rising in a clear sky, is sometimes 
darkened by thick clouds that overcast the heavens, so the cheerful 
light of that new household was obscured by the deepest .shades of 
disappointment, desolation, and grief. Five fleeting days of sick- 
ness passed, and Susie Harper Maclay Stanton was no more in this 
world. She who was so recently the accomplished, cherished 
daughter, and the loved and loving sister, in her father's happy 
family; then the charming bride, the worshiped and adoring wife, 
and the joyful mother, in her own "sweet home," setting out in 
the career of domestic life, Avith the brightest prospects, and the 
most allm'ing anticipations, was suddenly taken away — humanly 
speaking, torn from the embraces of her dearest friends on earth, 



Appendix 179 

and cut off forever from all fiu'ther participation iu the affairs of 
this life, by the ruthless hand of Death ; but, more properly speak- 
ing, according to the soundest doctrine of reason and revelation — 
translated by our Heavenly Father to purer enjojinents and di^•iner 
ministries, in a higher sphere of life — a doctrine, indeed, without 
which it is impossible to make such a dispensation of Providence 
consistent with the known wisdom and goodness of God. How 
truthful are those comforting words of the immortal CowTper ! 

God moves in a nij^sterious waj'. 

His wonders to perform ; 
He plants His footsteps in the sea, 

And rides upon tlie storm. 

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 

But trust Him for His grace: 
Behind a frowning Providence 

He hides a smiling face. 

His purposes will ripen fast. 

Unfolding every hour: 
The bud ma}' have a bitter taste. 

But sweet will be the flower. 

Blind unbelief is sure to err, 

And scan His work in vain; 
God is His own interpreter, 

And He will make it plain. 

Archibald Moses Maclay is yet unmamed, but well set out in 
business. Thoroughly instructed in all the branches of a general 
education, he studied law in his father's office, graduated at the Law 
School of the University of the City of New York, was admitted to 
the bar in 1882, and is now practising his profession under the most 
favorable auspices. 

FAMILY OF JAMES G. MACLAY. 

James Graham Maclay, son of Re v. » Archibald Maclay, D.D., 
was born in the city of New York Sept. 20, 1822. In 1844 he was 
mai-ried by his father to Miss Catherine Ferris ; and two children 
were born to them, namely : James G. Maclay, Jr., and Mary 
Maclay. Some years subsequent to the death of his first wife, Mr. 
Maclay man-ied again ; and is now living with his present wife in 
Chicago, Illinois. 



180 Appendix 



MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



ADDRESS OF DR. ROBERT H. MACLAY, CHAIRMAN OF THE DEMO- 
CRATIC REPUBLICAN GENERAL COMMITTEE, TO JAMES K. 
POLK, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



When His Excellency, James K. Polk, was President, he paid a visit 
to the city of New York. He came from Washington to Amboy by 
rail, where he was met by delegations that escorted him thence by 
steamer to the city. The following account of his reception, includ- 
ing a true but meager report of Dr. Maclay's addresss of welcome, is 
taken from a New York paper, the name and date of which are un- 
known. This address, condensed, as it is, adds another gem to the 
garland which crowns its author's memory. 

Yesterday will long be remembered in the '' gala-day annals " of 
the city of New York. It presented the most spontaneous and uni- 
versal out-pouring of the people that we have ever witnessed in this 
great metropolis. All parties, all sects, all ages, all classes, turned 
out in one vast throng to do honor to the Chief Magistrate of a free 
people ; to welcome him as our city's guest, and to tender him the 
spontaneous tribute of their grateful hearts, and the imbounded hos- 
pitality and freedom of a generous city. New York has done honor 
to herself, honor to the Chief Magistrate, and honor to the free and 
liberal institutions of the coiuitry. 

At about nine o'clock in the morning, the committee of arrange- 
ments, the members of the Common Council, and many of our most 
prominent citizens, assembled on board of the steamer Cornelius 
Vanderbilt, at Castle Garden, with a niimber of distinguished gentle- 
men from abroad. 

Among oiir own prominent citizens, we noticed Hon. B. F. Butler, 
ex-Governor Bouek, Chief-Justice Jones and Judges Sandford and 
Oakley ; iSenators J. Townsend, Folsom ; several members of the 
Legislatm-e ; the present and late Recorders ; ex-Mayors Havemeyer 
and Harper ; Hon. Robert H. Morris, Ely Moore, and W. P. Hallet, 
Esqs. ; Mr. Anderson, Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, John 
M'Keon, Esq., J. Philip Phoenix, Hon. Wm. B. Maclay, Hon. Henry 
Nicoll, M. C.'s elect, Mr. Matsell, Chief of Police, and Mi-. Peet, prin- 
cipal of the Deaf and Dumb Asyliim. 



Appendix 181 

The Democratic General Committee, and the Young Men's General 
Committee, finding the arrangements on board the Vanderbilt were 
not likely to be suificiently extensive to convey all who might wish to 
go on from our city to meet the President, chartered the steamer 
Em-eka, and issued free tickets to as many as the boat would accom- 
modate. Some f oiir himdred accordingly embarked on board of that 
beautiful steamer, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, and with a fine 
band of miisie, and a good-sized field-piece, with which, at proper in- 
tervals they not only discoursed " most eloquent music," but also 
sent forth "some most formidable thunder ; they arrived at Amboy 
about 1 1 o'clock. After the lapse of a brief interval consumed in prep- 
aration for debarkation, the two committees formed in line on the 
pier, decorated with white satin badges, and preceded by their splen- 
did band, and followed by their in^-ited guests, marched toward the 
hotel where the President was temporarily reposing, after the fatigue 
of his railroad jom'ney. 

On arriving at the hotel, the procession, headed bj' Dr. Maclay, the 
Chairman of the Democratic Republican General Committee. David 
C. Broderick, and Wm. McMurray, the Chairman of the two Commit- 
tees of Arrangements, with the company, filed in a circle around the 
yard in admirable order. The President was then waited upon by 
Messrs. Maclay, Broderick, and McMurray, and escorted to the green, 
where, after a short address by Mr. Broderick to the members of the 
Committee, it was concluded by the direction of the company present 
to close in order. Dr. Maclay then delivered a brief and pertinent 
welcome, in the name of the Democrats of New York, as follows : 

Mr. President : I have the honor to address you by the direction 
and on behalf of the Democratic Republican General Committee of 
the city and county of New York, and .speaking in their name, as well 
as for myself, permit me to tender to you om* cordial salutations, 
and to express the gratification yom- visit has occasioned us. We 
come to oflfer you our escort and conduct you to our city. We come 
to pay you that tribute of respect to which you are entitled, not more 
from the illustrious office you hold, than for your distinguished and 
faithful public services. We congratulate you upon the unexampled 
prosperity of your administration and the glorious prospects that on 
every side seem opening to om- beloved country ; its limits extending, 
its commerce vdth unfettered wings whitening every sea, agriculture 
and manufactui'es flom'ishing with increasing vigor ; and while fam- 
ine stalks abroad in other lands, we, like the younger son of the Pa- 
triarch Jacob, are amply provided with granaries adequate not only 
to our own wants, but to the necessities of our elder and less fortim- 
ate brethren ; our national finances and currency were never in a 
better or more stable condition, although we are in a state of war — 
a war existing by the acts of Mexico — which, nevertheless, has added 



182 Appendix 

to the wealth of our national renown, and covered the American 
name with unfading glory. And while we would not pluck a leaf 
from the chaplet that adorns the brows of our brave soldiers and sea- 
men, neither can we withhold the assurance of our deep con\'lction 
that oiu' brilliant successes have in no small degree been due to the 
skill, energy, and ability displayed by your cabinet. I conclude with 
the expression of the hope that your patriotic efforts to secure an hon- 
orable peace, may, by the blessing of heaven, be crowiied with suc- 
cess ; that health and happiness may attend you in yom* present toui", 
and that your administration may eminently promote the welfare of 
our common country. 



ADDRESS OF DR. ROBERT H. MACLAY. 

ox BEING ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THE DEMOCRATIC GENERAL 
COMMITTEE. 

The following condensed report of Dr. Maclay's Address before the 
Democratic General Committee, taken from a New York paper, the 
name and date of which are unknown, is preserved here, as a tribute 
to his honor worthy of a place in this Memorial. 

This body met at Tammany Hall, last evening, for the purpose of 
organization. Messrs. Broderick, Smith, and Miller, delegates from 
the Ninth Ward, elected yesterday, were received and took their 
seats. Messrs. Dunn, Buckley, and Camp were admitted from the 
Sixteenth Ward, and Messrs. Shields, Cochran, and McGlynn from 
the Seventeenth. 

The Committee being organized, Dr. Robert H. Maclay, of the 
Seventh Ward, was elected Chainnan for the year ; Malachi Fallen 
and Thomas K. Downing, Secretaries, and Amos F. Hatfield, Treas- 
ui'er. 

The following is the address of the Chairman, on assuming the 
duties of the office. We call the attention of the Democracy of oui* 
city to the bold and independent sentiments it contains. The re- 
election of Mr. Maclay is an evidence of the confidence the Democ- 
racy of our city have in his ability and efficiency as the presiding 
officer of the General Committee. He is a Democrat of long stand- 
ing, and has been tried in the darkest periods of pai'ty, and has never 
been found deviating from correct Democratic principles. 

Gentlemen — I highly appreciate and gratefully acknowledge both 
the honor conferred, and the confidence implied, in being designated 
as the presiding officer of this body. This feeling is not diminished. 



Appendix 183^ 

but increased, when I reflect upon the remarkable imauimity evinced, 
and also how many among you are more entitled than I am to what- 
ever of distinction is implied by your choice. 

The best retmrn which can be made for this expression of yom* fa- 
vor, will be f oimd in the constant endeavor on my part to administer 
with impartiality such rules as you may adopt for the government of 
yoiu- proceedings, while at the same time I throw myself upon yom* 
indulgence for involuntary errors. 

Upon the ^dgilauce, activity, and united action of this Committee, 
chosen by the free sufeages of the Democrats of this city, and rep- 
resenting every opinion and interest among them, the success of 
the Democratic party here has, at all times, in no small degree de- 
pended. A strong appeal is made to you for an iinusual exhibition 
of these qualities, arising out of the consideration that before the 
period for which you shall have been elected shall have passed away, 
the question will have been decided, whether a friend or an enemy 
of those political principles you profess, and mth which the liberty 
and prosperity of the country are identified, shall occupy the seat of 
the Chief Magistrate of the nation. As a party, we have established 
a constitutional Treasury amid the very difficulties under which its 
opponents predicted it could not exist. Shall it be overthrown ? We 
have repealed a system of high protective duties, more at war with 
the prosperity of this city than any other portion of the countiy, and 
substituted in its stead diminished taxes, and augmented revenue. 
Are we to go back to partial and unequal legislation ? The aggres- 
sions of Mexico imposed upon us a war, in every battle of which, 
where our banner has been unfurled, victory has perched upon it. 
Shall that flag be lowered and dishonored ? 

In a free government the laiu-el which the soldier snatches from the 
perilous field of battle does not adorn, but stains his brow, unless 
reaped in the service of his coiintry, and with the approval of his 
fellow-citizens. Unhappily, some, from conscientious hostility to an 
appeal to anns at any time ; some, from a want of that patient exam- 
ination which would give to the winds all doubt of yoiu* cause of 
quarrel ; but too many from the miserable motive which seeks to 
seize a passing triumph in the political struggles of the hour, have 
denied the justice of a war, which the department of our Government 
specially clothed by the Constitution with this high responsibility, 
has solemnly declared "exists by the act of Mexico." 



184 Ap'pendix 

This is not the occasion, nor, if it was, could I stoop to give more 
than a passing notice to the recent act of the Whig party in the House 
of Kepresentatives, calumniating the President of the United States 
in regard to the origin of the war. It was futile as the last shaft of 
ancient Priam, which struck without injuring the crest of the victor; 
and there was suspended a monument of impotent resentment, 
Suffice it to say, that, hy it, they have covered themselves with un- 
dying infamy ; and for it, they will be held by the people to a proper 
accountability ; but, gentlemen, you owe it to yourselves, to those you 
represent, and more especially to those of your fellow citizens in the 
field, to organize some demonstration under the auspices of this com- 
mittee, which will lend to the force of law the higher sanction of pub- 
lic opinion, which will frown down that spurious philanthropy that, 
by every species of indirection, gives "aid and comfort to the 
enemy," which will animate the spirits of those brave men, who 
upon distant fields have achieved such prodigies of valor, with the 
consciousness that their country is no indifferent spectator of their 
conduct, and which will enable those of them who, worn and wasted 
by disease and wounds, have been compelled to leave the scene of 
conflict, to read in every eye the grateful emotions of every heart. 

Let us, gentlemen, animated by one heart and one soul, resolve that 
the fair fame of oiu- country shall remain untarnished ; that we will 
allow no stigma to be cast on the graves of the gallant and noble 
dead ; that our national symbol, which, whether at home or abroad, 
upon the ocean or the land, has commanded the respect and admira- 
tion of the world ; which has never been flimg to the breeze in the 
cause of injustice or oppression, and which now floats in proud 
triumph from the battlements of the Mexican Capitol, shall by no 
humiliating or inglorious pacification be desecrated and trampled 
upon ; but that, as our fathers did in the last war, here in this vener- 
able hall, so we will now, fearlessly assert, and boldly maintain the 
interests, the rights, and the honor of our country. 

The General Committee promptly acted upon the recommendation 
contained in the address of the Chairman, and, on motion, the follow- 
ing resolution was adopted : 

Resolved, That a Committee of eighteen be appointed, one from each Ward, 
to make preparations for a public meeting of the Democracy of this city, for 
the purpose of sustaining the Administration in its war measures. 



Appendix 185 

LETTER OF DR. MACLAY TO HIS SON ROBERT. 

New Port, Rhode Island, 

August 20th, 1852. 
My Dear Robert : I have now completed my torn* of the New 
England States ; and have \'isited all the places which are at all mem- 
orable in om- revolutionary annals ; also their institutions of learning 
and science, and those devoted to the cause of benevolence and hu- 
manity, their prisons, hospitals, houses of correction and industry, 
lunatic asylums, institutions for the blind, deaf, and dumb. All, or 
most of these, I had supposed, superior to those of the other States ; 
but this impression was entirely removed. Their public school system 
is inferior to that of New York ; and though the State of Massachusetts 
has the imdying honor of originating the mode of instructing the 
blind, yet the blind institution of the city of New York as much sur- 
passes that of Boston as the one city surpasses the other in commerce 
and population ; so, also, of the Lunatic Asylums ; that of South 
Boston is a disgrace to civilization and Christianity ; they have no 
statistics giving a classification of the insane. Their btuldings have 
no provision for ventilation, and only ten per cent of their inmates 
are discharged cured. In one building, called the cottage (but 
which might better be called the cage, for it was a cage of unclean 
birds), I saw cells eight or ten feet square, lighted by an iron rail- 
ing door, placed opposite to a window from which it was separated 
by a coiTidor passage ; and in each of these was a human being ; on 
one side the males, on the other the females, several of them entirely 
naked. I stood for a moment before the door of a cell on the stone 
floor of which was seated a female about 30 years 6i age ; her elbows 
resting on her knees, and her face covered by her hands, not a thread 
of clothing on her person, not a spear of straw on which she could lie ! 
I tm-ned fi-om the sight with indignation and disgust, exclaiming : 
"Good God," is it thus thy creatm-es treat each other? then, turning 
to the keeper, I told him : " You are all without excuse ; I care not 
whether you call yourselves Unitarian or Orthodox ; you, and the 
Managers and Directors, the Doctor, the Mayor, and Aldermen of 
Boston may all perhaps keep the Sabbath day, as rigidly as they did 
in the time of Moses, but you have a form of godliness without the 
power, your religion is a mockery and a pretense. For, has not the 
Founder of Christianity taught us, that it consisted in loving God 
13 



186 Appendix 

supremely, and ov,r neUjlihor as ourselves f and remember well the 
warning he gave to them of old, ' Inasmuch as yc did it not to one of 
the least of these, ye did it not to nw.' " 

He attempted to apologize by saying that she was fractious and un- 
controllable, tore every thing off of her, would keep nothing on her, 
etc., etc., but I interrupted him by asking him if he had never heard of 
a strait jacket, or of a strap around the arms, above the elbow, and 
buckled behind the back ; or if he did not know that these abomina- 
tions were never practised in any well-regulated institution. "Don't 
you believe," said I, " that if they stripped you, and put you in a cell 
like that, that in less than twelve months you would be as insane as 
that poor woman ? Nothing but the poverty and degradation of this 
poor creatm'e protects you from having every stone of this building 
torn down to its foundation. More cruel outrages on humanity did 
not cause the destruction of the Bastile of France." As he did not at- 
tempt to justify himself farther, I left, but was called on the same 
day by the Mayor, who had been told of my remarks by the police 
ofl&cer who had been appointed to accompany me on my \isit to the 
public institutions, and who fully shared in my sentiments ; and the 
result of om" interview was, an abatement of this intolerable 
nuisance. It was imderstood that the woman was to be clothed 
and allowed air and exercise ; and that she should have a stout 
woman to take constant charge of her, and that she should have some 
of the benefits usual in private Lunatic Asylums. If I had gained 
nothing else in my present tour, I should feel well paid for my time 
and expense. I am glad to turn from this sad scene to one of a 
more pleasant character. The House of Correction in Boston is a 
model for all similar institutions and cannot well be surpassed. Here 
several hundred men and women are well fed, clothed, and lodged, 
and their work of ten hours a day not only supports themselves, but 
brings in a revenue to the city ; the most of them are better off than 
they ever were in their previous lives ; the house of reformation for 
those under 14 or 15 is also a good institution ; but all these, together 
with the Alms-house, are under the charge of one physician ; and 
even if he had the varied qualifications requisite (a rare case) there 
are more than he could do justice to ; the Lunatic Asylum alone 
should have one. I came from Boston to Providence, 43 miles, in 58 
minutes, and found the people all quarreling about the " No liquor 
law," which excites them more than the Presidential question. I was 



Appendix 187 

introduced to Gen. Lawrence, who defeated the law last year, and 
was himself overwhelmed by the surge of fanaticism which swept 
over the State. The Democrats will put him up at the next election 
and carry all before them ; as many of the Whigs will support him. 
He was engaged as counsel in a case for a ■violation of the law ; and 
it was very e\ddent that the people were with him ; for when the 
witnesses for the prosecution under his cross-examination admitted 
that they were hired informers, employed and paid by Meeks the 
State agent for the temperance party, and when one of them said 
that he had taken a pledge not to drink intoxicating liquors ; yet had 
drunk 4 glasses of cherry rum in an hour, loud laughter shook the 
eoui't. One witness produced by the Public prosecutor had testified 
straight along all that the prosecution wanted; Lawrence began the 
cross-examination by stating to the court, that he did not believe the 
witness understood the nature and obligation of an oath, andrequest- 
ed the comt to test him. He was asked if he imderstood the nature 
of the oath he had taken. I didn't take any, he said. Didn't you 
hear me state it to you when I held up my hand ? I saw you hold up 
your hand, but I didn't hear a word you said ; the judge then stated 
the onth again, and asked him what would become of him if he vio- 
lated it. Why I never dranJc any liquor, he answered. His stolidity 
was so evident that the prosecutor withdrew him amidst a bm-st of 
applause ; the trial was postponed for a fortnight, and the witnesses 
taken to jail by the sheriff, in order to protect them from violence, as 
on a fonner occasion they had been pelted with rotten eggs. In the 
meanwhile the poor fellows are in a bad fix, as no steamboat will 
take them from New Port back to Providence, and no hackman will 
risk his carriage by taking them, as the people threaten to tar and 
feather them. Opposite the court, during the trial, the bar of the 
hotel was supplying all who called with brandy, gin, or rum, in all 
forms to suit tastes ; and every other hotel in town is selling liquor 
in direct \aolation of the law ; the law, however, is a nullity as it de- 
clares all contracts for liquor void, whether in the form of note, bond 
or obligation or otherwise. The constitution declares " that NO 
laiv shall be passed impairing the obligation of contracts ;" and that 
is the supreme law of the land. Providence is about the size of 
Williamsburgh, 45 thousand inhabitants, or about half the population 
of Rhode Island. Its gi'owth has been very slow till a few years past ; 
and it looks behind the age. New Port has the finest harbour in 



188 Appendix 

the U. S., and if steamers of 5 or 10 thousand tons are ever built it 
may vie with New York, which she once surpassed in commerce and 
popiilation. No other harbour has depth of water enough for vessels 
of that class ; meanwhile it is a mere watering place of 10 thousand 
inhabitants, having the finest beach for surf bathing in the world. 
From 10 to 12 A.M. and from 3 to 5 P.M. you see 200 or 300 per- 
sons of both sexes plunging, jumping, splashing and screaming as the 
waves dash over them ; there are 2 or 3 balls every night at the Ocean 
House, Belleview, American, and other hotels. I am in a quiet place 
near the Kev. Dr. Choules and see him and Archie and Markie two 
or three times a day ; they have both learned to swim well. Kiss 
William for me and give my love to James and Margaret, and re- 
member me to Mr. and Mrs. Puffer, the Doctor, and all om- friends 
as though named. 

Yoiu' affectionate father, 

E. H. MACLAY. 



BIBLE SOCIETY ON THE DEATH OF REV. DR. MACLAY. 

American and Foreign Bible Society, 
New York, 22d May, 1860. 

To Dr. RoBT. H. Maclay, 
New York : 

Dear Sir — As Recording Secretary of the American and Foreign 
Bible Society, I send you the following enclosed document unan- 
imously adopted at a late special meeting of the Board of Managers. 
Have the kindness to communicate its contents to the other mem- 
bers of the family of yom- honored and lamented father. It will be 
extensively published in the religious papers of the country — and 
the family supplied with the Bible Advocate containing the same for 
distribution among friends. 

Very respectfully and sincerely vours, 

WARREN CARTER, 

Becording Secretary. 

To the Board of Manager's of the American and Foreign Bible Society : 
Your Committee, appointed at the last meeting of the Board to re- 
port a suitable notice of the death of the Rev. Dr. Archibald Maclay, 
would submit the following brief Record and Resolutions : — 

Dr. Maclay emigrated to the United States, from his native 
country, Scotland, in the year 1805. He continued nearly thirty 
yearB, the faithful and successful Pastor of one church in this city. 



Appendix 189 

and was emphatically " an able Minister of the New Testament." 
When the Baptist Denomination throughout the Union were com- 
pelled, in vindication of a sacred principle, to inaugurate the 
^^ American and Foreign Bible Society" he became one of the warm 
and uncompromising advocates of that important movement. 

He was appointed one of the first Vice-Presidents of the Society, 
and its first General Agent. In that capacity he visited every State 
in the Union, the British Provinces of North America, Great Britain 
and Ireland, and several parts of the continent of Eiu-ope. He col- 
lected more funds for the Society than any other man ever employed 
in the same office. He fell asleep in Jesus on the 2d instant, in the 
84th year of his age, deeply lamented by all who knew him ; and one 
of the last acts of his life was the transmission to your Treasury of a 
handsome donation, as a mai'k of his cordial and undiminished in- 
terest in the American and Foreign Bible Society. In view of these 
facts — 

Resolved, — That we sincerely deplore the loss sustained by this So- 
ciety, and by the cause of Christ generally, in the death of our vener- 
able and beloved brother the Rev. Dr. Archibald Maclay. 

Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with his bereaved childi-en 
and their numerous offspring, in their present sad affliction, and that 
we affectionately commend them to the grace and mei'cy of the God 
of their father. 

Resolved, That this document be sent for publication to the relig- 
ious press, and that a copy be transmitted to the bereaved family 
through Dr. Robert H. Maclay of this city. 

DUNCAN DUNBAR, 

Chairman of the Committee. 
New York, May 9. 1860. 



American and Foreign Bible Society, 
New York, May 22d, 1860. 
To RoBT, H. Maclay, M.D., 
New York. 
My Dear Sir — In connection with the annexed, and enclosed, 
allow me to express the sympathy of one who, for the last twenty- 
three years has known only to love and admire yom- devoted but now 
sainted father. In the old Mulberry St. Church, and in business re- 
lations connected with the Bible Society for many years, it was my 
province to be with him often, and no man certainly ever preceded 



190 Appendix 

him to the grave, leaving behind sweeter recollections. May his 
mantle rest upon us all. 

Sincerely yom\s, 

U. D. WARD, 
Assistant Treasurer, etc. 

ADDRESS OF ADAM P. PENTZ. 

The compiler has taken the liberty of adding to the foregoing 
brief but interesting sketch of Mr. Pen'tz's family, the folio-wing 
meager report of Mr. Pentz's farewell address, and some compli- 
ments paid to its author, on his withdrawing from the presidency of 
the Fire Department. It is worth preser\nng, as a tribute of honor 
to one who, when his work is done, will leave the world much the 
better for his having lived in it. 

The annual meeting of the representatives of the Fire Department 
was held on Monday evening, at Firemen's Hall, and, upon going 
into an election for officers, for the ensuing year, the follo^ving gen- 
tlemen were duly elected, (Adam P. Pentz, Esq., declining to be 
again a candidate for the presidency), Zophar Mills was elected 
President; George T. Hope, Vice-President ; John Gillelan, Secre- 
tary; John S. Giles, Treasiu'er ; Conklin Titus, Collector; and Adam 
P. Pentz, Forsyth Labagli, and Peter H. Titus, Trustees of the 
Fund, to hold their respective offices for three years each. The 
report of the trustees, which we give below, was read and accepted. 
It is an interesting and well drawn report, and presents a faithful 
account of the benevolent operations of the Department during the 
past year. 

Mr. Pentz, whose retirement will be received with regret by every 
friend of the Department, has served with zeal, ability, and fidelity, 
and is ably succeeded by Zophar Mills, Esq., a name as familiar as 
the household gods to every member of the Department. 

Mr. Pentz, upon declining to become again a candidate, alluded, 
in a very impressive manner, to his long connection with the De- 
partment, and the uniformly kind treatment he had always received. 
He referred to the noble charity of the Department, and m-ged upon 
the representatives the necessity of cultivating a spirit of harmony 
and good feeling toward each other, which was the surest mode of 
securing the respect and confidence of the community. He said, 
that, in separating from them, he did so with the deepest regret; 
and, on taking his final leave as their presiding officer, concluded 
with the following remarks, of which, however, we are enabled to 
give but an imperfect outline : 

Gentlemen : In withdrawing this evening from the honorable 
office to which your partiality has, for the last five years, designated 
me, I feel that I ought not to allow either my repugnance or 



Appendix 191 

conscious inability to prevent me from at least expressing to you 
the grateful feelings of my heart, for the kindness I have experi- 
enced from you; my gratification at the indulgence which alone 
has enabled me to discharge, with acceptability to you, the duties 
of the Chair, and the unabated concern I can never cease to cherish, 
in all that affects the interest and the welfare of the Fire Depart- 
ment. 

My successor, whom you have just chosen, has been known to you 
for years. His high character for integrity, and past connection 
with you, fm-nishes the best evidence of his future devotion to the 
noble objects for which the Department was organized. 

His ordinary duties as yovu- presiding officer, he will find clear and 
well defined, and every difficulty in the way of their discharge re- 
moved (as I have always found it), by your ever ready desire to 
maintain order, the fii'st great requisite to the despatch of business, 
and to fair and manly deliberation; but, beyond all this, to the good 
fireman, there lies the field which embraces the discipline of the 
Department ; the adoption of the most effectual meastu'es for afford- 
ing greater protection to the property of yoiu" fellow-citizens ; the 
suggestion of plans for preserving and perpetuating the heavenly 
charity which you represent, and the duty to defend, from unjust im- 
putation, the character of the Department, come from what quarter 
it may. I have no question that attention to these matters will be 
to my successor, as it has been to me, a source of great pleasure ; 
and I can hope for him no better fortune than, when he shall have 
retired from the position to which you have called him, that he may 
be enabled to look back, as I now do, upon many pleasant associa- 
tions ; upon kindness, never withheld; upon a generous indulgence 
to errors ; in a word, upon so little to cause regret, and so much that 
must remain a source of unalloyed happiness to him in after life. 

New York, Aug. 21, 1884. 
Dr. O. B. JUDD : 

Dear Sir : I have prepared the paper you x*equested,containing a 
genealogical record of our family, and my son will send you a copy of 
it. I have read the Maclay Memorial, and must say I was intensely 
interested in it. It is well put together, and elegantly expressed. 
It certainly reflects a great deal of credit upon the author, for the 
ability and industry displayed in the collection and detailing of so 



192 Appendix 

Tnuch matter in a small space. I know it must have been a labor of 
love to you, in portraying the character of yom- late friend, William 
B. Maclay. He was, in his life-time, a friend indeed to many who 
had the pleasui-e of his acquaintance. 

Yoiu's very truly, 

ADAM P. PENTZ. 

June 18, '84, Whitehaven, 

New Brunswick, N. J. 

My Dear Robert : It was very kind and thoughtful of you to 
send me the Memorial Book of the Maclay family ; for which please 
accept my thanks. It is very well T\a"itten, and makes a readable and 
interesting account of the family. The likeness of yom* grandfather, 
in the front of the book, is admirable. I am glad to have it, as I have 
nothing so good. 

JANE T. PENTZ. 



The compiler of this genealogical record has aimed to make it accurate, 
impartial, and complete ; and notwithstanding it lacks some statistics, which 
he failed to obtain, he has no doubt, that, proper allowances will be made ; 
and that, the record, as a whole, will be duly appreciated ; ever increasing 
in value, and becoming more precious with the lapse of time. 



cci 



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